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LINCOLN AND HIS SON TAD 



Founders and Builders 



OF 



Our Nation 



BY 



HELEN MEHARD DAVIDSON 



SCOTT, FORESMAN AND COMPANY 
CHICAGO NEW YORK 






•Copyright, 1920 
Scott, Fobesman and Company 



©CLA601671 



m 26 IS20 



'VV* / 



FOREWORD 

"History is a continued story, each chapter of which tells 
the story of some man's work for his country." The twenty- 
six stories of great Americans which make up FOUNDERS 
AND BUILDERS OF OUR NATION are thus the continued 
story of our country, and are intended to serve as an introduc- 
tion to American History. 

The Report of the Committee of Eight says : "In Grades IV 
and V the biographical element should receive emphasis. 
Leaders, heroes, and patriots should be identified with great 
movements and important situations. But in every case the 
share of the leader should be made the strong feature; for in 
that way historic truth makes its strongest appeal to the 
young." 

That the men and women whose stories are told here are 
the outstanding leaders is ensured by the method of their 
selection. The list of names was compiled by ascertaining 
the choice of a large number of educators, each naming the 
Americans he considered had done most for their country. 

While the arrangement is in the main chronological, these 
great Americans have been grouped according to the nature 
of their contribution to the nation. For example, Jefferson 
is not placed among the leaders of the Revolution, but with 
Clark and Jackson, in order to emphasize his part in enlarging 
the territory. The Introductions to these groups are planned 
to interpret the arrangement and to connect these divisions. 
The teacher should go over these with the class before assign- 
ing them as lessons. 

The Topics for Review and Search given after each story 
are planned to make the pupils think over what they have 
already learned, and usually to do some simple research work. 
The list of books in the Suggested Supplementary Reading 

iii 



iv FOREWORD 

is large. Some of these will be in any school library; others 
may be available only- when a good public library is at hand. 
They have been selected with reference to their suitability 
and interest for pupils of these grades; and it is hoped that 
they may lead the children to the knowledge that history is 
the most fascinating of all stories. 

A List of Theme Topics is appended for the teacher who 
wishes to correlate this history with English. Many more 
topics will be available from the pupils' supplementary read- 
ing. The pronunciation of difficult proper names and a few 
explanatory definitions are given in the Index. 

Grateful acknowledgment is made to the International Har- 
vester Company who kindly furnished four illustrations for 
the story of C. H. McCormick. 

There is no more powerful incentive to good citizenship 
than a great example; and it is hoped that the lives of these 
Americans may inspire every child with something of their 
vision, of their perseverance, and of their success. 

H. M. D. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

The New Home of Liberty 1 

> Christopher Columbus 6 

William Penn 22 

Laying the Foundation 33 

Benjamin Franklin .'. 35 

Patrick Henry 46 

Gteorge Washington 56 

Robert Morris 74 

•^ John Paul Jones 83 

Alexander Hamilton 91 

Enlarging the Territory 98 

George Rogers Clark 101 

Thomas Jefferson 109 

Andrew Jackson 117 

America at Work 128 

Robert Fulton ; 130 

Eli Whitney 137 

" Cyrus H. McCormick 145 

James J. Hill 152 

Thomas A. Edison 160 

Songs of Home and Work 169 

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 171 

A Closer Union 179 

Daniel Webster 181 

Robert E. Lee 188 

Ulysses S. Grant 196 

• Abraham Lincoln 204 

V 



vi CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Women Builders 214 

Mary Lyon 216 

Clara Barton 222 

Frances E. Willard 230 

Jane Addams 236 

A Great American 243 

Theodore Roosevelt 245 

Theme Subjects 255 

Index and Glossary 257 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Lincoln and His Son Tad Frontispiece 

Buffaloes J 

The Mayflower ^ 

The Boy Columbus • • • • ^ 

Sea Monsters As the Old Sailors Imagined Them / 

Map of the Two Principal Trade Routes to India y 

La Rabida ,• • v; ••, To 

Columbus Overhears the Threats of the Sailors 1^ 

The Nina, Santa Maria, and Pinta 14 

Map Showing Columbus's First Voyage .••••• }^ 

Columbus Before the Spanish Court After His First Voyage 17 

Queen Isabella i^ 

William Penn ^^ 

Quakers 

Wampum Belt Given by the Indians to Penn 28 

Penn's Home in Philadelphia 29 

Penn's Treaty with the Indians ^^ 

Franklin's Birthplace ^» 

Franklin's Arrival in Philadelphia o j 

Benjamin Franklin 41 

Franklin at the French Court 44 

Patrick Henry 4o 

Patrick Henry Delivering His Famous Speech 51 

Washington and Henry o3 

Mount Vernon °Y 

Martha Washington 61 

George Washington ^o 

Washington Crossing the Delaware 6b 

Washington in Winter Quarters at Valley Forge 67 

Lafayette and Washington 69 

Washington Taking the Oath as President 71 

Robert Morris ^^ 

Continental Currency ^^ 

First Money Coined by the United States 78 

John Paul Jones °4 

Ships of Jones's Time 86 

A Sea Fight of the Period 8° 

Medal Presented by Congress to John Paul Jones 89 

Alexander Hamilton ^3 

Federal Hall 94 

The Capitol at Washington 96 

Statue of George Rogers Clark 101 

A Western Home of Clark's Time 102 

Capture of the English Commander 104 

vii 



viii ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

The March to Vincennes 106 

Thomas Jefferson 109 

Monticello, Jefferson's Home 110 

Signing of the Declaration of Independence 112 

Emigrant Wagon 117 

Andrew Jackson 120 

Robert Fulton 130 

The Clermont 134 

Eli Whitney 137 

Eli Whitney's Cotton Gin 140 

The McCormick Home 145 

Cradle Formerly Used for Cutting Wheat 147 

McCormick's First Reaper 148 

Cyrus H. McCormick 149 

A Modern Reaper 150 

James Jerome Hill 154 

Model of an Early Railroad Train 155 

Thomas A. Edison in His Laboratory 161 

The Phonograph 164 

Edison Driving His First Electric Locomotive 166 

Craigie House 173 

Longfellow's Armchair 175 

Hiawatha 176 

Longfellow in His Study 177 

House in Which Webster Was Born 181 

Daniel Webster 182 

Bunker Hill Monument 183 

Marshfield 185 

Arlington 190 

Robert E. Lee 192 

Lee on "Traveler" 193 

Grant's Birthplace 197 

General U. S. Grant 199 

Grant's Tomb 202 

The Cabin in Which Lincoln Lived When a Boy 205 

Lincoln's Home in Springfield 208 

Statue of Lincoln 210 

Mary Lyon 217 

Mount Holyoke in 1837 219 

Mary Lyon Chapel and Administration Hall 220 

Clara Barton 223 

Red Cross Workers on a Battlefield 226 

Feeding Victims of a Great Disaster 227 

Forest Home 230 

The Harlem School 232 

Frances Willard 234 

Jane Addams 238 

A Corner in the Boys' Library at Hull House 240 

Theodore Roosevelt 246 

Mirafiores Locks, Panama Canal 250 



FOUNDERS AND BUILDERS 
OF OUR NATION 



THE NEW HOME OF LIBERTY 

The beginning and growth of a nation are like the begin- 
ning and growth of a business. Suppose a man is going to 
found a business, such as a factory. He must first find a 
location and buy the land. Then before work can be begun, 
plans must be made. When these are ready, the foundations 
can be laid; and after that, the work of building goes on 
rapidly. 

When the factory is finished, the founder needs workers 
to start his business. Then if he succeeds, his small factory 
is enlarged, more and more workers are added, grocers and 
druggists and bankers come to serve the people. Professional 
men, such as doctors, lawyers, and teachers, are needed. 
Houses and oflices, schools and churches, are built; railways 
connect the workers' homes with the outside world. Thus in 
time what was a small business occupying a single building 
becomes the heart of the life of many thousands of people. 

Meantime, the founder has been succeeded by others. 
These are assisted by scores of managers and officers as well 
as by all good workmen who care for the interest of the busi- 
ness and their town. The purpose of all this working to- 
gether, whether directly connected with the organization and 
management of the manufacturing plant or not, is the health, 
welfare, and happiness of the members of the community. 

So it is with a nation. A nation is a community organized 
for the purpose of securing for its citizens the greatest safety 
and happiness. The national community is composed of many 
groups or small communities, each made up of numerous 

1 



2 FOUNDERS AND BUILDERS 

workers, like the town which grew up around the factory. 
The success of the nation, like the success of the town, de- 
pends upon the kind of leaders it has and the kind of workers. 
The leaders must be men of vision, men who can look far 
ahead and plan for the future. The workers must be indus- 
trious, intelligent, unselfish, not only willing to work, but 
eager to cooperate, that is, to work together for the common 
good. 

In this book you are to read about some of the builders of 
this greatest of all undertakings, the United States: those 
who first discovered the land on which the nation was to be 
built; those who brought the first workers and laid the foun- 
dations for the building; those who enlarged this territory, 
so that more and more workers could find places; those who 
made living conditions easier for the workers; those who 
helped to bring about a stronger sense of unity or sang songs 
about the life of the workers; and women who helped to 
make the community safer and more wholesome. Just as in 
every industry there are slackers as well as true workers, 
so in the whole nation there are people who think only of 
their own pleasure, or who refuse to contribute to the com- 
mon welfare. But the best members of the community that 
we call the United States are like the best workers in busi- 
ness undertakings, men and women and children who feel a 
common interest in the welfare of the whole and who are 
workers and not drones. 

When you look at a physical map of North America in your 
school geography, you see mountains and plains, rivers and 
lakes. These made up our continent five hundred years ago 
as they do today. But only bands of roving Indians lived here, 
and they did not know how to make use of all the wonderful 
resources of this country. 

The wealth of the land was all here. Some of the mountain 
ranges held gold and silver, which could be mined and made 
into coins. Others were filled with iron, which was to make 
possible our railways and steamships. In some places beds of 
coal lay just below the surface, and these held the power for 
electricity and manufacturing. In many parts of the country 
there was clay for bricks, and stone which could be cut into 



THE NEW HOME OF LIBERTY 3 

blocks and used for building. In the forests grew giant trees 
which would furnish tall masts and huge beams. 

Between mountain and forest stretched wide fertile plains. 
These were covered with waving grass and bright flowers. 
Herds of wild buffaloes wandered over them. In these plains 
lay much of the country's wealth. Thousands of cattle and 
horses and sheep could be pastured here. The rich soil was 
ready, when tilled, to grow the cotton and the corn with which 
America is today clothing and feeding the world. The rivers 
and lakes were waiting to carry ships laden with ore and 



''t Vii^M}* 



y^a-v.w,:! 




BUFFALOES 

clothing and food to the ocean where they could sail all over 
the globe. 

But the ores could not be mined, the trees cut, the cattle 
raised, or the grain harvested until people came to live and 
work here. At this time all the civilized people lived in Europe 
and a part of Asia. Three thousand miles of ocean lie between 
America and the shores of Europe. The Europeans did not 
even know there was such a place as this great continent. 
Before our country could be of use to the world, some one had 
to sail across the wide ocean and carry back the news of this 
land. America had to be discovered before it could become 
the home of a great nation. 



FOUNDERS AND BUILDERS 



Not only did it have to be discovered, but it had to be 
settled. Men and w^omen had to be brought together, trans- 
ported across the dangerous seas, and enabled to set up new 
homes in a wilderness peopled by strange men and beasts. 
The first efforts to colonize the new America, made by Eng- 
lishmen, were directed by Sir Walter Raleigh, who tried to 
found in America a large number of colonies as great as 
those already started by Spain. About twenty years later 
Virginia was established, under the leadership of Captain 
John Smith, who preached the gospel of work and tried to 
show the idle seekers for treasure that the best members of 

the new business organization 
were "carpenters, husbandmen, 
gardeners, fishermen, blacksmiths, 
masons, and diggers of trees' 
roots." And in 1620 a ship named 
the Mayfloiver brought to the cold 
New England shore a group of 
earnest people who had been 
forced to leave their old homes in 
order to find a place where they 
might worship God in their own 
way. 

So in different parts of the lands 
that came into the knowledge of men through the daring of 
the great explorers there sprang up the small communities 
from which our nation was to grow. Of all the stories of 
these founders, one of the most interesting is that of 
William Penn. 

But, first, we shall read about the great man whose vision 
and pluck enabled him, though held back by many difficulties, 
to show the people of Europe, suffering from poverty and 
oppression, the way to a new home across the seas. 

Topics for Review and Search 

1. On which continents were there living civilized people in the 
century America was discovered? 

2. Where in the United States is gold found? Silver? Iron? 
Coal? 

8. In which states were the forests that gave us our timber? 




THE MAYFLOWER 



THE NEW HOME OF LIBERTY 5 

4. Where are the great plains? What did they furnish that 
helped to win the World War of 1914-1919? 

5. How long did it take the Mayflower to cross the Atlantic? 
How long does it take a ship nowadays? How long does it take an 
airplane? 

6. Find out what the passengers on the Mayflower were called, 
and what country they came from. 

7. What is a nation? 

8. Are the people of America all of one race, as are the Nor- 
wegians or the Chinese? 

Suggested Supplementary Reading 

The Pilot of the Mayflower, Hezekiah Butterworth. 
How New England Was Made, Frances A. Humphrey. 
Story of Sir Walter Raleigh, M. D. Kelly. 
Pilgrims and Puritans, Mrs. N. M. Tiffany. 
The Princess Pocahontas, Virginia Watson. 




CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS (1436-1506) 

If we could have been in Genoa, Italy, around the year 
1440 we might have seen a dreamy boy sitting on the 
docks and looking out to sea. He would watch the sailors 

starting on their voyages, 
and plan for a time when he 
too should sail away into un- 
known seas. And when the 
sailors returned from far- 
away India and Arabia, what 
stories they had to tell of the wonders and riches of Asia ! 
The boy Columbus longed to be a sailor and to explore the 
great mysterious ocean. 

In those days people knew little of this vast body of 
water we call the sea, and no one had the courage to sail 
far from land. They thought the ocean was filled with 
terrible whirlpools and immense and dreadful monsters 
ready to swallow any ship that dared venture upon it! 
Most men believed that the earth was a flat plain, and that 
if a ship went too far, it would fall off the edge. A few 
scholars argued that the world is round, but this could 
not be proved until someone had sailed around it. 

The father of Christopher Columbus prepared wool for 
the spinners. Although he had to work hard to support 
his family, he sent his son to school and to the University 
of Pavia. There the youth studied geography, geometry, 
astronomy, and navigation. These were the subjects a 
sailor needed to understand, and a sailor Columbus had 
determined to be. 



CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 7 

THE WORLD COLUMBUS KNEW — TRADE WITH THE EAST 

All that was known of the world at this time was a part 
of Europe, a part of Asia, and the coast of Africa. The 
people of Europe, and particularly the inhabitants of Genoa 
and Venice — two great Italian cities — traded with the Asi- 




-i _ ^ ^ 



SEA MONSTERS AS THE OLD SAILORS IMAGINED THEM 



atic countries of Arabia, Persia, and India. The name 
India included not only what we call India today, but Cath- 
ay (our China), Cipango (now Japan), and the islands 
of the East Indies. 

To these countries Europe sent grain, copper, iron, 
hides, and wool. After many months the merchant ves- 
sels came sailing back with fine silks, beautiful rugs and 
carpets, precious jewels, rare drugs and perfumes, and 
spices. These things were then distributed all over 
Europe. 



8 FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION - 

All these products of the Indies, as they were called, 
were in great demand, and the spices most of all. Cloves, 
cinnamon, nutmeg, and pepper were used to flavor many 
foods. The use of ice was unknown, and when foods had 
begun to lose their freshness, a little of the choice spice 
from India was needed to give a pleasant flavor. At 
table the seat of honor, which was given to the favored 
guest, was the chair nearest the spice box. 

At this time few Europeans had actually reached India. 
The inhabitants of Asia were unwilling to have strangers 
in their countries and so arranged a trading place at the 
eastern end of the Black Sea. The merchants of India 
went overland, and their journey often took more than a 
year. The goods were loaded on the backs of camels, 
and the merchants traveled in large parties called cara- 
vans. Across high mountains and wide rivers, through 
far-stretching deserts of sand, among great forests, they 
journeyed, often attacked by robbers and murderers. 

The merchants from Genoa had an easier journey. 
They went by boat through the Mediterranean Sea, 
passed through the Hellespont, the strait between Europe 
and Asia, and crossed the Black Sea. (See map on page 
9.) Their boats were small, and therefore they kept 
close to land. There was always danger from storms, 
and still greater peril from the pirates or sea-robbers 
who were ready to seize a ship, take its cargo, and kill 
the sailors. 

There was a longer way by sea, which the Venetians 
used. This was by the Mediterranean, the Isthmus of 
Suez, the Red Sea, and the Indian Ocean. When they 
went this way they had to cross a narrow strip of land 
and use boats on both sides. 

When Columbus was about seventeen, two things hap- 



CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 



9 



pened which greatly lessened this trade. In 1453 the 
Asiatic Turks captured Constantinople, and thereafter re- 
fused to allow the Genoese to pass through the Hellespont. 
This refusal blocked the former route to the East. At 
about the same time the Egyptians imposed such heavy 
dues on the Venetian traders that their business was no 
longer profitable. 




MAP OF THE TWO PRINCIPAL TRADE ROUTES TO INDIA 

In these circumstances, the eyes of all Europe were 
turned toward finding a new route to the silks, jewels, and 
spices of India. Such a route was of the greatest inter- 
est to the Genoese and Venetians, for these cities had 
become poor since they had lost their trade with the East. 

Rival countries had long been seeking a short passage 
to India. Prince Henry of Portugal had encouraged navi- 
gation with this hope in view. He built a fine naval col- 
lege and soon Portuguese sailors were making voyages. 

These men tried to sail around Africa, but Columbus 
had a bolder plan. Believing that the world is round, he 



10 FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 

proposed to sail west until he reached India. With this 
plan he went to Portugal, but found that Henry was dead. 
The reigning King, John, asked for Columbus's maps and 
charts. Secretly this King sent ships to the westward 
with copies of these maps, but the frightened captains 
soon returned with reports that there was no land to the 
west. When Columbus learned how he had been de- 
ceived, he resolved to go to Spain. 

COLUMBUS IN SPAIN 

Columbus spent seven years in Spain — seven years of 
anxiety and discouragement. At the time of his arrival 
Spain was in the midst of a great war against the Moors. 
All the money, men, and interest of the country were 
needed to drive out these swarthy invaders from Africa, 
who had settled in Spain. 

Many months passed before Columbus gained an audi- 
ence with Ferdinand, King of Spain. When he had heard 
Columbus's plans, he called together his geographers, 
astronomers, and other learned men to hear Columbus 
explain why he believed the world was round. Some of 
these men took up the new ideas eagerly ; others made fun 
of such a thing as a round earth. "People would fall off," 
said one ; "Ships cannot sail up-hill," said another ; "If the 
world is round, then the people on the other side must 
walk with their heads hanging down," was a third view. 

The King put Columbus off, and he made maps for 
sale. These brought him little money, and at last he actu- 
ally begged at the door of La Rabida, a convent. Here 
he was kindly received, and the friar in charge became 
interested in Columbus's theories. This friar had been 
at court and knew Isabella, the Spanish Queen, person- 
ally. He therefore went to the Queen and asked her inter- 



CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 



11 



est in behalf of Columbus. He argued that if Columbus 
were given ships, not only might he find a trade-route to 
the East, but he might discover new islands. These 
would then become the property of Spain, and it would 
be possible to convert their inhabitants to Christianity. 
The monarchs of Spain at this time were zealous Chris- 
tians, and the idea of making new converts appealed 











LA RABIDA 



strongly to the Queen. She sent money to Columbus 
and bade him appear at court. 

He arrived at a time of the greatest rejoicing, for the 
war in which Spain had been engaged was over, and the 
Moors, after a struggle of hundreds of years, had been 
conquered. The people were happy over this victory, and 
the court was overjoyed by this proof of Spain's power. 

Columbus thus came at a favorable time, and the King 
was ready to supply a fleet and sailors. But Columbus 
asked to be made admiral of the fleet, to rule as governor 
over whatever lands he should discover, and to receive 



12 FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 

one-tenth of all the wealth produced. These requests 
the King thought too great, and he dismissed Columbus. 
Columbus had been patient and persevering for many- 
years, but this disappointment was hard to bear. He 
resolved to return to Portugal and try his chances once 
more with King John. But Queen Isabella recalled him, 
pledging her own jewels in order to raise the necessary 
funds. Everything was soon arranged to the entire sat- 
isfaction of Columbus, and preparations for the expedition 
were begun. 

THE FIRST VOYAGE 

On the third of August, 1492, the little fleet of three 
ships, the Santa Maria, the Pinta, and the Nina, set sail 
upon their memorable voyage, with Columbus in com- 
mand. How glad Columbus must have been! After 
years of waiting, he had the opportunity he had longed 
for all his life. But the sailors were too fearful to be 
glad. Only a few really wanted to go ; some had been per- 
suaded in spite of their fears; others were forced to go 
in order to make up the number required to manage the 
boats. 

Once out of sight of land, the sailors were overcome 
with fear. They begged Columbus to permit them to 
turn back — they even threatened his life if he refused 
their plea. But he talked to them of the wonderful coun- 
tries they would see and quieted their fears. 

With their small ships they could make but slow prog- 
ress. In a storm the rudder of the Pinta was broken, and 
they were obliged to land on one of the Canary Islands 
and repair it. Again they set sail for the West. The 
farther they went, the more the fears of the sailors in- 
creased. One day their hopes were raised by seeing a 



CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 13 




COLUMBUS OVERHEARS THE THREATS OF THE SAILORS 



14 



FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 



bird fly overhead. But when they sailed on without find- 
ing land, the sailors mutinied and threatened to throw 
their commander overboard. Again Columbus persuaded 
the sailors to go on. He had, of course, no idea of the 
real size of the world, and he thought the distance from 
Europe to India would be much less than is the real dis- 




SANTA MARIA 



tance from Europe to America. So when he had sailed 
west for weeks and still had seen no sign of land, he was 
himself troubled. He constantly studied the map, think- 
ing that possibly he might have taken a wrong course. 
Finally, when for more than six weeks Columbus and 
his men had sailed over unknown seas in their little 
ships, they saw a floating branch with green leaves upon 
it, and then a carved stick. These signs of land raised 
Columbus's hopes to the highest pitch. He himself took 
the position of watchman on the deck of the Santa Maria, 
and during the night following he saw a moving light. 
When morning dawned, a distant shore line was visible. 



CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 



15 



THE FIRST COLONY IN THE NEW WORLD 

On October 12, after seven weeks aboard ship, Colum- 
bus and his men landed upon a small island in what we call 
the West Indies. He never doubted that he had succeeded 
in carrying out his plan of finding a water route to India, 
and hence believed this island to be one of the Indies. 
He named it San Salvador (which means Holy Savior) 
and took possession of it in the name of the King and 
Queen of Spain. 




Sailed Aug. 3 










MAP SHOWING ROUTE OF COLUAIBUS'S FIRST VOYAGE 



The men who had come with him were now as happy 
as they had formerly been discouraged. They were ready 
to fall at their leader's feet and hail him as the greatest 
of admirals. 

Strange brown people with long black hair watched the 
sailors from a distance. At first they were afraid to ap- 
proach, because they thought the white-sailed ships were 
great birds, and that these men with white faces, gayly- 
colored clothing, and bright armor, were beings from the 
skies. Columbus naturally called these brown men In- 
dians, since he believed he had reached India. 

After a few days Columbus sailed on, in search of the 
mainland of Asia. He found other islands of the same 
group (the Bahamas) and reached Cuba, which he thought 



16 FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 

was a part of Japan. Here the natives lived in villages, 
wore some clothing, and had gold ornahients. The Span- 
iards were overjoyed at sight of the gold, and at the report 
of the natives that the land farther to the south was 
filled with the precious metal. 

On one of these islands Columbus built a fort and under- 
took to establish a colony. The Spaniards built homes and 
learned some of the Indians' ways of living. In spite of 
Columbus's orders, the sailors were cruel to the Indians, 
who in turn attacked the Spaniards and killed some of 
them. Several months passed in establishing the colo- 
nists and in making cruises among the islands. The 
admiral's flag-ship, the Santa Maria, had been wrecked, 
and the Pinta had treacherously sailed away. In the small 
Nina he set sail for Spain to report his discoveries to the 
King and Queen. 

The voyage home was long and stormy, with a rough 
sea and high winds. At times it seemed as though all on 
board would perish. Columbus, fearing this, had written 
an account of his discovery. He made two copies of this, 
enclosed them in wax, and set one adrift. The other he 
kept on the deck of the vessel, so that if the ship should 
sink, the roll would float and have a chance of reaching 
land. Fortunately, the Nina weathered all the storms, 
and Columbus and his crew arrived safely in Spain. Later 
the Pinta also reached home. 

He was received with joy and given a royal reception by 
the King and court. He had brought back with him a few 
natives, some birds and plants, and some gold ornaments. 

SECOND VOYAGE 

Columbus was now honored not only in Spain, but 
throughout Europe. However, he cared little for this. 
He was eager to set out again for these new lands in the 



CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 



17 



West, for he hoped to reach the mainland of India itself. 
Preparations were at once begun for colonizing the islands 
he had found and for converting the natives to Christian- 
ity. So great was the popularity of Columbus that court 
and people were alike eager to help fit out the new expe- 
dition. Ships were not lacking, nor money, nor enthu- 
siasm. Young men from the noblest families in Spain, 




COLUMBUS BEFORE THE SPANISH COURT AFTER HIS FIRST VOYAGE 

eager to obtain the wealth of the Indies, begged to go. 
Many, afraid there would be no room for them, boarded 
the vessels secretly. 

When the second fleet sailed, it consisted of seventeen 
fine ships and fifteen hundred men. Among the pas- 
sengers were carpenters, mechanics, miners, and doctors, 
for a permanent colony was to be established. 

When Columbus reached the island on which he had 
left the colony of forty, he found not a man alive. Even 
the fortress had been destroyed by unfriendly natives. 



18 FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 

With the aid of the men who had come with him he 
founded a new and much larger colony. But the young 
nobles were soon dissatisfied because they did not find 
the gold they had hoped for. Columbus encouraged them 
to be patient, for he was still certain that he could not be 
far from the wealth of the East. What would he have 
thought could he have known that the real India he sought 
was over ten thousand miles away, and that to reach it 
would require a voyage more than three times as long 
as the one he had made? 

For more than two years he remained in the new world, 
ruling over his colony and making voyages among the 
islands. He was continually puzzled because he did not 
find any of the great cities which he had heard existed in 
India. In 1496 he returned to Spain to ask for more men, 
provisions, and funds to aid him in his further work of 
exploration and discovery. 

TW^O LATER VOYAGES 

On his return to Spain he did not receive so enthusiastic 
a welcome as before, since he had for the second time 
come back with none of the rich products of the Indies. 
The good Queen had, however, become greatly interested 
in helping the natives, and making Christians of them; 
and so she gave him help and encouragement in his plans 
for a third voyage. 

In 1498 he set out once more, this time with six vessels. 
On this voyage the admiral steered farther to the south 
than before. He touched upon the shores of the continent 
of South America, and discovered the mouth of the Ori- 
noco River. 

He then returned to his colony on the island which is 
now known as Hayti. In the two years of Columbus's 
absence the hopeful spirit of the little band of colonists 



CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 



19 



had changed to one of complaint and fault-finding. They 
had expected to find in this new land, wealth, ease, and 
comfort, instead of the hardships of pioneer life. They 
blamed Columbus for all their trials. Some of the colo- 
nists plotted against him, and sent false reports about 
him to Spain. 

While affairs in the colony were thus growing worse, 
the King and Queen sent an agent to investigate the 
charges which had been made against Columbus. If this 
man found the tales to 
be true, he was to take 
Columbus's place as 
governor. Without in- 
vestigating the truth 
or falsity of the re- 
ports he took Colum- 
bus's place and sent 
the admiral back to 
Spain in chains. 

On his arrival in 
Spain, Columbus 
sought justice at the 
hands of the King and 
Queen, whom he had 
faithfully and loyally 
served. Queen Isabella had always been his friend, and 
she now induced the King to release Columbus from his 
disgraceful chains. She promised, too, that his wrongs 
should be righted and that he should be again honored. 

King Ferdinand, however, was chiefly interested in re- 
ceiving wealth from the new lands, and since Columbus 
had not brought back wealth, the King did not restore him 
to his position as governor of the colony. Meanwhile 




QUEEN ISABELLA 



20 FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 

Vasco de Gama, a Portuguese, had reached India by sailing 
around Africa and returned to Europe in 1499 with a ship- 
load of the products of the East. Now that Columbus 
had had the courage and perseverance to sail westward 
until he reached land, many captains and explorers were 
ready to make the voyage. Several expeditions set out 
from Spain, and on one of them sailed Americus Ves- 
pucius. He wrote an account of reaching the mainland 
of North America, and set forth the idea that Columbus 
had found a new continent and not a route to Asia. Be- 
cause of this his name was given to our country, but 
Columbia remains as a poetic name. 

Although Columbus was now an old man and disgraced, 
he was not disheartened, and with the help of the Queen he 
began making preparations for a fourth voyage. He set 
out in 1502, and this time he sailed along the eastern coast 
of Central America. He still failed to solve the puzzle of 
why he did not find the lands and people and riches of 
India. He returned to Spain in 1504, still believing that 
he had found a new, shorter, and all-water route to the 
riches of India. 

His friend the Queen was dead and he spent the remain- 
ing two years of his life alone and in poverty. His death 
occurred May 20, 1506. 

COLUMBUS THE FIRST FOUNDER OF AMERICA 

If Columbus could have known that he had discovered a 
new continent and could have foreseen how great a nation 
would dwell upon it, he would have been repaid for the 
many years of hardship and waiting. He was the first 
founder of our country because he discovered this land. 
He is great, not because he happened to reach America 
while seeking a new passage to the Indies, but because he 



CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 21 

had faith to believe that the earth is round when nearly 
everyone scoffed at the idea; courage to set out on un- 
charted seas; perseverance to spend a lifetime seeking 
for the thing he beheved in. What would have been his 
feelings could he have known that instead of opening 
a way for the merchants of Europe to procure more riches 
he had found a vast, beautiful, and productive land to 
which the poor and troubled men, women, and children of 
crowded Europe could come for all time, and find hap- 
piness? 

Topics for Review and Search 

1. Why was trade with the East so important in the fifteenth 
century? 

2. Do people still travel in caravans? If so, where? 
8. Why did Columbus believe the world is round? 

4. What were Queen Isabella's reasons for helping Columbus? 

5. On a map in your geography locate the discoveries Columbus 
made. 

6. Why was Columbus so greatly disappointed? 

7. Was the discovery he made more or less important than the 
one he set out to make? Why? 

8. Tell several ways in which Columbus has been honored in 
our country. 

Suggested Supplementary Reading 

The True Story of Christopher Columbus, Elbridge S. Brooks. 
The Story of Christopher Columbus, Charles Washington Moores. 
The Story of Columbus, Elizabeth Eggleston Seelye. 



WILLIAM PENN (1644-1718) 



THE QUAKERS 

It would seem strange to us now in our free land if the 
government should announce that it had adopted a cer- 
tain religious behef and that if we refused to accept it we 
should be imprisoned. But this is what happened in 
Europe when rulers tried to decide the religion of their 
countries. A new form of belief often came in with a 
new king or queen. 

When people were determined to keep a certain religion 
or to adopt a different one instead of that estabhshed 

by law, and when they under- 
stood that to hold a certain be- 
lief meant imprisonment or 
death, there was but one thing 
for them to do. This was to try 
to find a place where they would 
be free to worship God as they 
desired. And this place for 
thousands of persecuted Euro- 
peans was the wide land of 
America which Columbus had 
discovered. 

About the year 1645, George 
Fox, a young Englishman, be- 
came convinced that the "state church," as it was called, 
needed many changes — that its laws should be based 
strictly upon the teachings of the Bible. By his eloquent 
preaching the young man soon won many followers, and 

22 




WILLIAM PENN 



WILLIAM PENN 



23 



a society was organized called "Friends." At one time 
while Fox was being tried in court for preaching on the 
streets he told the judge that he "ought to quake 
(tremble) before the Lord." From this the Friends were 
known as "Quakers." 

The Friends had strict rules. 

In those days the words 
"thou," "thee," and "ye" were 
used in addressing God, in com- 
mon speech among one's equals, 
and in talking to inferiors. The 
pronoun "you" was reserved for 
persons of a higher rank than the 
one speaking. The friends began 
addressing everyone as "thou" 
and "thee," even the King. 

Hats at that time were raised 
only to those of a superior social 
position. A member of the new Quakers 

society would not remove his hat in the presence of anyone. 

They refused to take any oaths in the law courts bind- 
ing them to tell the truth, for they said one should always 
tell the truth. Nor would they even take the oath prom- 
ising loyalty to the King. 

Not being able to find anything in the Bible permitting 
the wearing of elegant clothing, they adopted the simplest 
kind of dress. 

They believed firmly that women should have equal 
rights with men. 

In their services no parson preached, and there was 
no arranged order of exercises. If anyone in the silent 
audience felt moved by the spirit, he would arise and 
speak. 




24 FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 

It is a pity that these simple, honest people, whose 
greatest desire was that all men should live in peace to- 
gether as equals, could not have been allowed to lead their 
lives as they desired; but such ideas as the Quakers 
had were too dangerous for the King and those high in 
power, and strong measures were taken to suppress the 
society. 

Meetings were broken up and leaders and listeners 
arrested, thrown into prison, and kept there sometimes 
many months. Several hundred were hanged in the space 
of a few years. 

THE YOUTH OF PENN 

In 1644 there was born in England a boy who was to be- 
come the strongest support of these people. In his youth 
William Penn had no knowledge of the society of 
"Friends," for his father, a rich admiral in the English 
navy and a favorite of the King, was a stanch supporter 
of the state church, and looked with scorn upon the 
humble Quakers. 

At this time England was in the midst of a civil war. 
Charles I, the King, was finally dethroned, and Oliver 
Cromwell, a man of the people, took command of the gov- 
ernment. Admiral Penn was in sympathy with the King 
and offered him ships and soldiers to help him escape. 
Although the King refused this offer, it led to a firm 
friendship between the Penn family and the House of 
Stuart, to which Charles belonged. This friendship lasted 
after the restoration of the Stuarts on the throne, in 1660, 
and led to the founding of the colony which became the 
state of Pennsylvania. 

When William Penn was sixteen years of age his father 
sent him to the University of Oxford. In this college 



WILLIAM PENN 25 

the students were required to wear certain dress and to 
attend the state church. During Penn's second year at 
Oxford he heard a Quaker preaching in the streets. 
The earnest young student was at once won over to the 
new faith. From then on Penn refused to attend the 
University church services or to dress in the manner 
ordered. For breaking these rules he was expelled. 

We can imagine how angry the rich and proud admiral 
was when his son came home with the startling news that 
he had been expelled from college because he had agreed 
with the poor, despised Quakers. The father threatened 
to banish the young man from home, and only the plead- 
ing of the mother prevented this. 

To get his son away from Quaker influence, Admiral 
Penn sent him at once to the gay city of Paris. The 
next two years young Penn spent in the different countries 
of Europe enjoying himself and studying various lan- 
guages. He returned to England an educated and polished 
young man, having forgotten, seemingly, his desire of two 
years before to enter the Quaker Society. 

Rejoiced at this, the father now sent his son to manage 
the Penn estate in Ireland. Shortly after his arrival 
William heard that a Quaker was to speak in the neigh- 
borhood. He went to hear him, and a second time he 
listened eagerly to every word of a Quaker preacher. An 
officer who tried to break up the meeting was resisted 
by Penn. The result was that the young man was ar- 
rested and rushed away to prison. 

His release was soon procured through the influence of 
his father, who ordered him to come home at once. On 
his arrival he was told by the angry admiral that he could 
take his choice of giving up his belief or leaving home. 
Penn chose the latter. His mind was now firmly made up 



26 FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 

to be a Quaker for all time, whatever hardships he might 
have to suffer. 

From this time on he went about preaching, and writing 
articles in defense of his adopted religion. Many times he 
was arrested while speaking on the streets, and it was in 
prison that much of his best writing was done. 

Perhaps the father secretly admired his son's deter- 
mination to abide by his conscience in spite of the many 
hardships he had to endure, for it was not long before he 
asked the young Quaker to come home. The proud 
admiral heard himself called "thee" and "thou" and did 
his best to endure it. 

Knowing that others would not be lenient with customs 
which seemed peculiar, Admiral Penn, on his deathbed a 
few years later, requested his friends, the King and the 
Duke of York, to befriend the young man. This they 
promised to do. 

The King, Charles II, called the "Merry Monarch" be- 
cause of his fondness for fun and gayety, was often 
amused by the serious young Quaker. At one time, 
chancing to meet the King, Penn stood with his hat on, 
according to the custom of the Friends. The King at 
once removed his gaily plumed bonnet and held it in his 
hand. 

"And why, friend Charles, dost thou remove thy hat?" 
asked Penn. 

"Because," replied the much amused "Merry Monarch," 
"where I am, it is the custom for only one to remain 
covered." 

PENNSYLVANIA 

At the death of Admiral Penn his son inherited a great 
estate. With the loyalty and generosity which marked 



WILLIAM PENN 27 

his whole life the young man now spent large sums of 
money in attempting to relieve the sad condition of his 
Society. But money, even with the friendship of a King, 
could not do everything, and many of the Quakers con- 
tinued to be imprisoned and put to death. 

When Admiral Penn died, England's "Merry Monarch" 
owed him the large sum of $80,000. There was little 
chance that the Penn family would ever receive any of this, 
for the King was far too busy spending money to take the 
time to think of saving any to pay his debts. But he con- 
tinued to be very friendly to young Penn, thinking per- 
haps that this would make up for the loss of the money. 

In 1680, when Penn was thirty-six years old, he went to 
the King and asked him for a tract of land in the new 
world in payment of the $80,000. Charles was delighted 
to pay his debt in this easy way. He did not at all mind 
giving away any amount of land in a country he knew and 
cared nothing about. 

The territory the King gave Penn, and over which he 
was to rule as governor, lay east of the Delaware River 
and north of Maryland. The western boundary was not 
defined, for no one knew anything about the country in 
that direction or how far it extended. 

When Penn heard that his tract of land was thickly 
wooded he called it Sylvania, which means "wooded re- 
gion." The King at once changed the name to Pennsyl- 
vania. 

"Nay, friend Charles," said Penn when he heard this, 
" 'twould not be seemly in me to use my name, and I beg 
thee to leave it as it was." 

"I am not naming it for thee, friend William," laughed 
the King, "but for thy esteemed father. Pennsylvania it 
shall remain." 



28 FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 

Penn wanted this land to found a colony for the Friends 
who desired a home in the new world where they could 
worship as they pleased without fear of imprisonment or 
death. 

More than three thousand Quakers sailed for Pennsyl- 
vania in 1681, the very year in which Penn received the 
grant from the King. The colony was founded for the 

Friends especially, but 



the broad-minded Penn 
directed that anyone of 
good character, what- 

WAMPUM^BELT ^GjvEN^ BY THE gver hls rellglon, was to 

be cordially received. 
A year later, when Penn had arranged his affairs in Eng- 
land, he too sailed for the new world. 

On his arrival he set about to make the colony happy 
and prosperous. The King had granted William Penn the 
right of ruling with supreme power, but this just man 
did not believe that any people could be happy if they had 
no voice in making the laws they were to obey. Every 
man in Pennsylvania was therefore permitted a share in 
the government. 

In 1682 Penn chose a beautiful site at the junction of 
the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers and laid out a city 
which he named Philadelphia, from the Greek words 
meaning "brotherly love." 

He left a large public square in the center of the city. 
There were two wide streets, one facing the Delaware 
River on the east, the other facing the Schuylkill on the 
west. A third avenue, called High Street (now Market) , 
ran from river to river, while a fourth, called Broad Street, 
crossed it at right angles, running north and south. 
Twenty streets ran parallel to Broad Street and were 



WILLIAM PENN 



29 



called First Street, Second Street, and so on. Eight streets 
ran parallel to High, to be called after the names of trees, 
as Spruce, Chestnut, and Pine. No houses were to be 
built along the river banks, so that these might be kept 
for beautiful drives. The homes were surrounded by 
large lawns, with gardens and orchards. The forest trees 
were carefully guarded. The 
central part of Philadelphia 
still shows this plan. 

No other settlement or city 
in the new world had been 
planned with so much thought 
for the good and happiness of 
everyone, and the result was 
that the colony of the "holy 
experiment," as Penn called 
it, and the "city of brotherly love" soon surpassed all the 
other colonies and cities of America in growth and pros- 
perity. 




PENN'S HOME IN 
PHILADELPHIA 



PENN AND THE INDIANS 



One of the things that William Penn is honored for 
is his justice and great kindness to the Indians. Although 
the King had claimed the land as his own property and 
as such had given it away, Penn felt that the natives 
were the rightful Qwners and should be paid for it. 

Under a great elm tree on the banks of the Delaware 
the red men of the new world assembled at the invitation 
of Penn to meet the white men from the old world in order 
to arrange the sale of the land. The treaty they made 
is said to be the only treaty between Indians and Chris- 
tians at which no oath was required and which was never 
broken. Friendly greetings were exchanged at the end 



30 



FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 



of the meeting, in which the Indians and the Quakers 
agreed to Hve together in peace and harmony. This agree- 
ment was always kept, and the Indians learned to love 
and trust their friend William Penn. 

The Quakers, unlike most colonists in America, found 
no need for weapons of defense against the natives. The 
Indians so loved Penn that the Quaker dress was enough 




PENN'S TREATY WITH THE INDIANS 

to secure protection. When the red man of Pennsylvania 
wished to pay anyone a great compliment he would say 
"You are like William Penn." 

In 1685, when Philadelphia was a happy and flourishing 
town of twenty-five hundred people, Penn heard that 
the Quakers in England were being cruelly persecuted, and 
he returned to his native land. It was fifteen years before 
he was able to go back to Pennsylvania. 



WILLIAM PENN 31 

Many changes had taken place in Philadelphia in his 
long absence. The city had grown rapidly — there were 
four hundred more houses, also new stores, churches, and 
schools. Penn would have preferred to remain in his 
colony the rest of his life, but in a short time business 
again called him to England. His hope of coming back to 
America to live was never realized, for he died in England 
in 1706. 

In losing him the Quakers lost a true and noble sup- 
porter of their religious faith. They drew up a resolution 
in order to show their gratitude for his character and 
faithful services. 

There came also a curious token of remembrance from 
the Indians in far-off America, to whom he had been a 
teacher and a friend. This message was not written in 
words as we know them, but in signs and symbols express- 
ing the deep sorrow they felt in the loss of their Great 
Chief. With this expression of grief were sent some beau- 
tiful skins, which they intended to be made into a cloak 
"to protect his wife while passing through the thorny 
wilderness without her guide." 

PENN'S PART IN FOUNDING AMERICA 

William Penn founded his colony to give the Quakers 
an opportunity to worship God in their own way, but he 
was willing to grant the same freedom to people of any 
other behef. Such fairness was a rare thing in those 
times. In most of the colonies an attempt was made to 
force all the inhabitants into the same church. But Penn 
asked only that people should be Christians. He was will- 
ing that each church should have its own forms and 
ceremonies. 



32 FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 

Pennsylvania was a democracy from the beginning, for 
when Penn drew up the plan of government, he gave the 
right to vote to every man who paid taxes. His broad 
ideas of religious freedom and his just laws paved the 
way for the Declaration of Independence, which, nearly a 
hundred years later, marked the beginning of the United 
States as one country. 

Topics for Review and Search 

1. How did the Quakers differ from other religious sects at 
that time? 

2. What traits of character did Penn show in becoming a 
Quaker and remaining one? 

3. Why did Penn have so great an influence on America? 

4. Find out how the Indians were treated in the other colonies. 

5. Name the thirteen original colonies. 

6. How large is Philadelphia now? How does it rank among 
the cities of the United States? 

Suggested Supplementary Reading 

The Wampum Belt; William Penn's Treaty with the Indians, 
Hezekiah Butterworth. 

American Pioneers, W. A. Mowry and Blanche S. Mowry (page 
68). 

American Hero Stories, Eva M, Tappan (page 108). 



LAYING THE FOUNDATION 

For many years the colonies in America were dependent 
on England, as a branch of the older country. All the settle- 
ments were along the Atlantic Coast, and they formed thirteen 
groups, each banded together under its own plan of govern- 
ment. Each colony considered itself a part of England rather 
than of a new country. Few thought that the time would ever 
come when these colonies would demand their independence. 
But as time went on, it became clear that a new manner of 
living was to be set up in America. This would give all the 
workers a share in their undertaking. Every man would 
have a vote in the government; and any man could be elected 
to office, even the highest office. 

There were far-sighted men who wished to unite these 
various colonies which had been growing for more than a 
century. By this union they planned to establish the hap- 
piness and security of America forever. Among these men 
were orators who could set the people aflame with patriotism; 
men of affairs who could work out the business organization; 
statesmen who could map out the plan of government; mili- 
tary leaders who could train men and lead them to victory. 
These men were the founders of the new government. 

First it was necessary to rouse all the people and interest 
them in uniting. They had to work together to establish the 
new enterprise, just as men have to work together to start a 
new business. The colonies were widely separated, and did 
not know much about each other. It took longer and was much 
harder at that time to go from Massachusetts to Virginia than 
to make the trip from Maine to California now. There 
were no newspapers so that the people in one colony could 
read what those in the others were doing. There were no 
railroads, and travel was by coach, on horseback, or on foot. 
The few letters were carried in the same way, so it took many 

33 



34 FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 

days and sometimes several weeks for a letter to travel from 
New York to one of the southern colonies. 

Next, it was necessary to force the British government to 
acknowledge the rights of these colonies. Many of the wise 
men in England saw that unless these rights were acknowl- 
edged and some privileges granted, the American patriots 
might even withdraw from the English government and form 
a country of their own. But the English King was not willing 
to grant the colonies any representatives in his Parliament, 
and he insisted on taxing them unjustly. The sturdy Ameri- 
can colonists began a struggle for their rights. This lasted 
eight years and ended in the colonies withdrawing from the 
British government and setting up a new nation of their own. 
During this time the cause of the Americans would have been 
lost had it not been for the faith and wisdom of the leaders. 

After the common danger had been removed and the 
thirteen states were free, there was still the greatest need for 
union. It was necessary to find out a plan by which the states 
still might work together and yet not lose the personal inde- 
pendence which they had fought so long to win. 

Our stories then fall into three classes : stories of men who 
awoke America ; stories of men who guided the people through 
the struggle for liberty; and stories of men who showed them 
how to form a union of states that would insure them against 
the failure that lack of cooperation always brings. 

Topics for Review and Search 

1. Why were the colonies in America dependent on England? 

2. Which colonies were settled by people from countries other 
than England? 

3. Find out how long it took to go from New York to Boston 
in Revolutionary times? How long does it take now? 

4. Who was Edmund Burke, and what did he do for the colonies? 

Suggested Supplementary Reading 

Watch Fires of '76, S. A. Drake. 
Story of the Thirteen Colonies, H. M. A. Guerber. 
Colonial Children, A. B. Hart and Blanche E. Hazard. 
The Coming of the White Man, Mrs. M. H. B. Wade. 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (1706-1790) 



Benjamin Franklin, the youngest son in a family of 
seventeen, was born on Milk Street in Boston, January 6, 
1706. At an early age he showed a great liking for read- 
ing, and his father decided to make him a minister. At 
seven years of age he was sent to 
the grammar school, but since 
times were hard and there were 
many other children to support, 
he was forced to become one of his 
father's helpers when only ten 
years old. His father made soap 
and candles ; the sign which hung 
in front of his shop was a blue 
ball, representing a cake of soap. 
Franklin's work consisted of cut- 
ting candle wicks, filling molds, franklins birthplace 
running errands, and often attending to the shop. He did 
not like this work, and longed to do something else. Often 
as he watched the big boats come into the harbor he 
wished that he could be a sailor. His father frequently 
took him for long walks where he could watch all the dif- 
ferent workmen at their trades. He hoped in this way 
to find something that would interest his son. But young 
Benjamin was no better pleased with any of the other 
trades than with candle making. 

35 




36 FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 

FRANKLIN THE PRINTER 

As he grew older he became even more fond of reading, 
and finally his father decided to make a printer of him. 
His older brother James published a newspaper in Boston 
and it was decided that he should take Benjamin as an 
apprentice. Benjamin was to work until he was twenty- 
one without any pay except his board and lodging. The 
boy liked his new occupation, for it gave him time to read 
and to talk with the learned men who came into the office. 

Whenever he was not busy he studied grammar, arith- 
metic, and geometry. Since he was earning no money, he 
asked his brother to give him half the cost of his board, 
instead of meals. To this James willingly agreed. The 
young student then lived on part of what his brother gave 
him and spent the rest of the money on books. 

When Franklin was only fifteen years old he began 
to write articles for his brother's newspaper. These he 
slipped under the door in the evening so that no one, not 
even his brother, would know who the author was. The 
articles were so cleverly written that James usually pub- 
lished them, and many believed them to be the work of 
some one of the most learned men of the day. When his 
brother found out that the young Benjamin had written 
the articles, a quarrel followed and Franklin ran away 
from the office. He was now seventeen, and he determined 
to find work in New York. 

When he arrived there he found all the positions in the 
printing houses full. One of the printers told him that he 
would be more likely to find work in Philadelphia, and he 
decided to go there. 

Today Franklin could go from New York to Philadelphia 
in about two hours, but it was very different in those 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 



37 



days when there were neither railroads nor steamboats. 
He took passage on a small boat for Amboy, New Jersey. 
Because of rough weather the trip took over thirty hours, 
and as there was neither food nor water on board, most of 
the passengers, including Franklin, were sick when the 
New Jersey port was reached. In spite of his sickness, 
however, Benjamin started the same day to walk to Bur- 
lington, fifty miles away. There he expected to find a 
boat for Philadelphia. He walked for three days to reach 
Burlington, much of 
the time through the 
rain. The boat for 
Philadelphia traveled 
at night, and a weary 
trip it was. There 
was no wind and the 
passengers had to as- 
sist in the rowing. 
Midnight came and 
they had not reached 
the city. Many 
thought they had 
passed beyond Phila- 
delphia and refused 
to row farther. Fin- 
ally they pulled ashore to wait until daylight. They built 
a fire from some fence rails and huddled around it until 
daylight, when they found they were just outside of Phil- 
adelphia. An hour later they reached the city. 

FRANKLIN IN PHILADELPHIA 

Franklin felt wretched indeed as he walked for the first 
time up the streets of Philadelphia. He was dirty from 




FRANKLIN'S ARRIVAL IN PHILADELPHIA 



38 FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 

his long journey, tired from the rowing of the night be- 
fore, hungry and cold. Before he had walked far he met 
a boy coming down the street with a loaf of bread. Frank- 
lin asked the boy where he could buy bread, and was sent 
to a baker's on Second Street, where he bought three large 
puffy rolls. He walked off with one under each arm, while 
he munched the third. To his great embarrassment he 
saw a young woman standing in a doorway laughing at 
him. He little dreamed that this same young woman 
would later become his wife. 

In a few days Franklin found work with Mr. Keimer, 
one of the two printers of the city. He lodged at the home 
of Mr. Bradford, the other printer, who had taken a fancy 
to Franklin but had no position open for him. 

Mr. Keimer did not like to have Franklin live at the 
home of the other printer. This was a fortunate objec- 
tion for Franklin, for it resulted in his changing his lodg- 
ing to the home of Mr. Read, the father of Deborah Read, 
who had laughed at the strange lad with the rolls under 
his arms. Through his acquaintance with Miss Read, he 
met many of the fine young people of Philadelphia. A 
group of these formed a literary club, with the purpose 
of composing poems and essays of their own. The club 
prospered, Franklin's friendships grew, his work was suc- 
cessful, and he was very happy. 

One day, while he was working at his trade, two dis- 
tinguished persons called at the office. One of them was 
WiUiam Keith, the Governor of Pennsylvania, who asked 
to see young Franklin, and greeted him with the warmest 
welcome. The Governor expressed a wish to become 
acquainted with the young printer, and invited him to 
dinner. Franklin was greatly astonished at this. But 
it was afterward explained in this way: Frankhn's 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 39 

brother-in-law was Captain Holmes of the sloop that ran 
between Boston and Delaware. The Governor of Penn- 
sylvania had gone on one of its trips, and had struck 
up a friendship with the Captain. Holmes had just re- 
ceived a well-written letter from Franklin which he 
showed the Governor. Franklin's literary ability im- 
pressed Governor Keith. He at once became interested 
in the young printer, and accordingly paid him this un- 
expected call. 

The Governor realized the need of a good printer in 
Philadelphia and offered his services to assist Franklin 
in establishing a business of his own. Desiring that the 
equipment of the printing office should be of the very 
best, Governor Keith decided to send Franklin to Eng- 
land to select his own materials. He promised to have on 
board the boat on which Franklin was to sail letters of 
introduction and credit, by means of which the young man 
could easily make friends and buy his materials in London. 

FRANKLIN IN ENGLAND 

Joyfully Franklin set sail for England. Imagine his 
feelings, however, when he discovered that no letters from 
the Governor were on board. When he reached the great 
city of London he was just as poor and friendless as when 
he had arrived in Philadelphia, but he did not allow him- 
self to become discouraged. He resolved to secure a posi- 
tion as soon as possible, save his money, and buy the 
materials he wished to take back with him to Philadelphia. 
He was not long in finding work, and for nearly two years 
he worked diligently. In London he made many friends, 
some of whom were prominent people of the day. He also 
continued reading and writing during his spare time. At 
the end of the second year he returned to Philadelphia. 



40 FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 

SERVICE AS A CITIZEN 

For a time he worked with his old employer, Mr. 
Keimer. But he was eager to start a newspaper of his 
own. Not only did he start one, but he soon made it the 
best in the colony. One reason for his success is told by 
a friend, who said, "The industry of that Franklin is 
superior to anything I ever saw of the kind ; I see him still 
at work when I go home from the club and he is at work 
again before his neighbors are out of bed." In the midst 
of all his work, however, he found time to encourage good 
reading among his friends and to found a debating club 
called "The Junto." Many of Franklin's own articles were 
published at different times. 

About four years after his return from England he mar- 
ried Deborah Read. His wife was most helpful to him, 
being thrifty and industrious. Franklin's business pros- 
pered, and through constant study he grew in wisdom. 
It was not long before he became the leading man of 
Philadelphia. At his suggestion a militia force was or- 
ganized for the purpose of protecting the city from hostile 
attack, and Franklin was chosen the colonel of the regi- 
ment. He organized a fire company and he himself be- 
came one of the firemen. He encouraged paving the 
streets and proposed a new plan for keeping them clean. 
He greatly improved the method of street lighting. 

Franklin was also an inventor. The Franklin stove 
was used in most of the homes of the colonists. This 
stove was far better than any other then in use, for it 
used less fuel and at the same time kept the room warmer. 
He would not even take out a patent on his stove, for he 
said, "As we enjoy great advantages from the inventions 
of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 



41 



others by inventions of ours ; and this we should do freely 
and generously." 

He was always interested in education and founded an 
academy where the 
young people of his 
city could be edu- 
cated. This after- 
ward became the Uni- 
versity of Pennsyl- 
vania, which is today 
one of the great 
universities of our 
country. 

Franklin was ever 
willing to be of serv- 
ice in whatever way 
he could. He founded 
a society for the pur- 
pose of spreading 
useful knowledge 
throughout his state. 
The members of this 
kept themselves in- 
formed upon sub- 
jects of every possible description. Franklin, himself, 
was the secretary, and the society existed for many years. 
His was the difficult task of bringing about a treaty 
of peace with the Indians. He was appointed Postmaster 
General and did much to improve the PostofRce depart- 
ment. He visited every Postoffice in the country, sug- 
gesting easier and better methods for carrying on the 
business. So valuable did his suggestions prove 
that in many instances they are still followed. He 



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BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 



42 FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 

proposed a union of the colonies and did all that he could 
to bring about this union. He was sent to take charge of 
the northwestern frontier and to protect it from the hos- 
tile attacks of the Indians — for which purpose a large 
fort was built. 

"HE DREW THE LIGHTNING FROM HEAVEN" 

For many thousands of years the mystery of one of the 
most wonderful forces of Nature had remained unsolved. 
It remained for Franklin, with his scientific and inventive 
mind, to prove his theory of this great force known as 
electricity. 

He made a kite by fastening a large silk handkerchief 
on the top of a stick to which was attached a piece of iron 
wire. When he saw that a thunder storm was approach- 
ing, Franklin and his son quietly left his house and went 
in the city park. When the storm came with its fierce 
thunder and lightning, the kite was raised in time for the 
flash. At the end of a hempen string was fastened a 
common key; in a neighboring shed stood a glass bottle, 
ready to collect the electricity from the air. Franklin and 
his son must have presented a strange appearance to an 
onlooker, trying to fly a kite in a thunder storm. But the 
experiment succeeded; suddenly the fibers of the string 
began to rise and Franklin drew one spark after another 
from the key in his hand. Both father and son received 
a severe electric shock, but it was a thrill that made them 
happy, for it meant the discovery of a great truth. 

The news of Franklin's wonderful discovery spread 
quickly to the Old World and Franklin was honored by the 
leading scientists of Europe. His papers on electricity 
were translated into French, Italian, German, and Latin, 
and his theory accepted as correct. The King of France, 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 43 

Louis the Fifteenth, ordered a series of Franklin's experi- 
ments to be performed in the royal presence. Many let- 
ters of congratulation and praise were sent to Franklin, 
who had made Philadelphia a city of importance in the 
world. 

POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC 

Perhaps nothing that Franklin ever did has left a more 
lasting influence than his witty, short sayings. These are 
as true today as they were when Franklin first wrote them. 
The book in which they were printed, known as Poor 
Richard's Almanac, was very popular and became a part 
of the very speech of the people. Many of the sayings are 
familiar to us. 

Early to bed, and early to rise, 

Makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise. 

God helps them that help themselves. 

A small leak will sink a great ship. 

It is easier to suppress the first desire than to satisfy all that 
follow it. 

Vessels large may venture more, 
But little boats should keep near shore. 

For age and want save while you may; 
No morning sun lasts a whole day. 

FRANKLIN AS A DIPLOMAT 

When Franklin was about seventy years old, trouble 
between England and her American colonies broke out. 
Although Franklin was an old man, he was sent to Eng- 
land for the purpose of bringing about peaceful relations 
between that country and America. He knew more about 
the needs and desires of the American people than any 
other man. If anyone could have prevented the war, he 
was the one person, but it was impossible. 

When Franklin came back to America all hope of a 



44 



FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 



peaceful settlement was at an end. America declared her 
freedom, and Franklin was among the great men of the 
colonies who signed the Declaration of Independence. 

After war was actually in progress, Franklin was sent 
to France to ask its aid in the struggle. He was a typical 
American and no one could have better fulfilled this mis- 
sion. The French people showed him high respect and, 




FRANKLIN AT THE FRENCH COURT 

besides making an agreement to help the colonies against 
England, did all they could to honor him. They loved him 
for his simplicity, his wisdom, and his goodness. His pic- 
tures were posted in almost every window ; he became as 
popular in France as in America. France not only loaned 
the colonies a large sum of money, but sent over many 
fine soldiers. For ten years Franklin remained in France, 
until it became a second home to him. He loved it and 
the French very much. 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 45 

His home-coming was hailed with delight by all Ameri- 
cans. They were glad to have this great citizen spend 
his last days in the country of his birth. He had still 
another task to perform for his country. When he was 
eighty-one years of age he was appointed one of the men 
to draw up the Constitution of the United States. 

His last years were quiet and peaceful. He spent them 
in his own home among his books and experiments, until 
his death at the age of eighty-four. His many friends 
delighted to be the honored guests at the home of this 
philosopher. 

A FOUNDER OF AMERICA 

Franklin's long years of industry, temperance, and self- 
control had prepared him for the difficult duties of his 
later life. By representing the United States in both Eng- 
land and France, he was of the greatest help to America 
during the stormy period of the Revolution. By signing 
the Declaration of Independence and helping to frame the 
Constitution of our country, he became one of the great 
founders of free, democratic America. 

Topics for Review and Search 

1. In what ways was the boy Franklin unusual ? 

2. Tell several ways in which he served his country. Which do 
you consider most important? 

3. How was Franklin regarded and treated in Europe? 

4. Repeat some of his wise sayings. Are they just as true now 
as when he wrote them? 

5. Find out when printing by movable type was invented, and 
by whom. 

Suggested Supplementary Reading 

The True Story of Benjamin Franklin, Elbridge S. Brooks. 
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 
Young Benjamin Franklin, H. Mayhew. 



PATRICK HENRY (1736-1799) 

Patrick Henry's father was a man of ability and was 
highly respected by the colonists. He came from Scot- 
land and settled in Virginia, where Patrick was born in 
1736. 

From his mother's side of the family the boy inherited 
a liking for art and good reading. But he loved the 
beauties of the great world of out-of-doors as well as 
music and painting and literature. 

But young Patrick did not take kindly to studying. He 
was thought to be a lazy, shiftless boy, who would never 
amount to anything. He left school at the age of ten 
but his schooling was continued at home by his father and 
his uncle, the Rev. Patrick Henry. It was from this 
learned man that the boy acquired a knowledge of Latin, 
Greek, and mathematics. His private instruction con- 
tinued until he was fifteen, at which age he went into 
business. 

BUSINESS VENTURES 

His first business venture was in a country store, in 
partnership with an elder brother. This enterprise soon 
failed, as neither of the boys was a good business man- 
ager. Patrick's happy days were those when he could 
wander off with his gun or his fishing rod over his 
shoulder, or could stroll about looking for a new kind of 
bird or flower. Thinking, because of these tastes, that 

46 



PATRICK HENRY 47 

his son might have a liking for farming, the father 
bought some land and started Patrick at work. But the 
results were no better than before, and in a short time 
he was back at storekeeping. 

During these years of seeming failure Patrick had de- 
veloped a taste for reading and in his leisure time read 
and reread all the histories he could lay his hands on. 
Especially was he fascinated by the accounts of the set- 
tling and growth of his own country. 

He loved to read of the day, more than a hundred years 
before he was born, when England made her first set- 
tlement in the great new country that Columbus had 
discovered. And this first settlement had been in Virginia 
— his own birthplace. 

He read with pride how his colony had grown and pros- 
pered and how well she managed her own affairs in her 
Assemblies. And he was proud, too, of England, the 
great mother country, which owned the Virginia colony. 

Perhaps the young Henry was not so deeply interested 
in the story of the other twelve English colonies that had 
sprung up after Virginia, all on the Atlantic Coast, and 
extending from Maine to Georgia. You see in those days 
when Patrick was a boy the colonies were not joined by 
any special bond as the states are today. Their chief tie 
was that they all belonged to England. 

HE BECOMES A LAWYER 

It may have been his interest in the affairs of his colony 
that caused him, to the great surprise of his friends and 
relatives, to study law. His ability was shown when, 
after only a few weeks' preparation, he successfully 
passed the examinations. He was then a young man of 



48 



FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 



twenty-four, a lover of all that was true, honorable, and 
just, and a Virginia patriot, to the very heart. 

During the first years of his practice he was only mod- 
erately successful. But one day at the end of his fourth 
year he sprang into sudden fame. 

Occasionally England and one of her colonies would 
disagree over a matter relating only to the Americans. 

At these times the 
mother country 
would often attempt 
to decide the matter 
without consulting 
the colony. Now, al- 
though the colonies 
belonged to England, 
each of them had its 
own 1 a w-m a k i n g 
body, and objected to 
the English King or 
Parliament interfer- 
ing. 

In one of these 
cases, in which Eng- 
land had changed a 
decision made by Vir- 
ginia, Henry was 
chosen to represent the colony. It is said that when the 
awkward, stoop-shouldered young lawyer rose to speak, 
a feeling of disappointment passed through the audience, 
and that his father turned away his face in shame. 

Suddenly a change came over the speaker. He straight- 
ened to his full height, flung back his head, and in a 
burst of clear, ringing eloquence, transformed the half- 




PATRICK HENRY 



PATRICK HENRY 49 

asleep audience into one spellbound by the magic of his 
power. 

The substance of his speech was that England had no 
right whatever to change a decision made in the law 
courts of Virginia. So powerfully did he make his plea 
that when the session was over he was hailed as the de- 
fender of Virginia's rights, raised on the shoulders of his 
new-found admirers, and carried out amid wild bursts 
of cheering. He had become the "man of the people." 
Patrick Henry had found his work, because to him there 
was nothing so great in the world as the welfare of his 
beloved colony — ^Virginia. 

An orator was then looked upon in Virginia as the man 
best fitted to hold pubUc office. Now that Patrick Henry 
had made the greatest speech ever listened to by the 
people in the colony, he was elected a member of the legis- 
lative body in Virginia (1765). 

GEORGE III AND THE COLONIES 

At this time George HI was King of England. He was 
a German by birth and training, and he had married a Ger- 
man wife. He was a proud, conceited man who car- 
ried things with a high hand. By favoritism and other 
unfair means he kept a majority of the members of Par- 
liament on his side. He took to himself as much power 
as possible, seizing many rights which former kings 
had not had. He appointed as Ministers only men who 
would do his will, and if at any time they opposed him, 
he demanded their resignations and put in their places 
men who would humbly do anything he wished. 

The colonists in America had carried with them to their 
new home the love of hberty, which the Englishman has 
ever held as his inheritance. The pioneer life which com- 



50 FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 

pelled them to organize their own government had devel- 
oped this instinct for freedom. Three thousand miles of 
ocean separated them from England ; an even wider gulf 
yawned between the tyranny of George III and the ideas 
of liberty held by the colonists. Their love of liberty, 
their passion for justice, had grown beyond the feelings 
of most of the Englishmen who remained in the home- 
land. British statesmen there were, indeed, who spoke 
warmly and appealingly in behalf of the colonies. But 
the self-willed King gave them no heed ; he was resolved 
to force "the American rebels" to submit. 

He began by unjustly imposing a tax upon his Amer- 
ican colonies to help pay the war debt brought on by the 
mother country's struggle to drive the French out of 
America. This tax was in the form of a stamp which 
must be placed on all papers to make them legal. The 
colonists protested against the passage of this bill, but 
in spite of their objections the Stamp Act became a law. 

It must not be supposed that the Americans protested 
because they did not want to pay their just share of the 
debt. Their reason for opposing the Stamp Act was the 
old reason that Henry had given — they claimed the right 
of imposing their own taxes in their own assemblies. 

The Virginia Assembly (legislature) was in session at 
this time. At one of the meetings a heated discussion of 
the hated act took place. One after another the older 
members of the assembly spoke against the injustice of 
England's attitude. Suddenly, Henry was seen scribbling 
something. A few minutes later he sprang to his feet and 
in a passionate speech declared that England had no 
right whatever to lay taxes on her American colonies and 
that for the Americans to submit would be the same as 
acknowledging themselves slaves. He then proposed that 



PATRICK HENRY 



51 



the members sign their names to a series of resolutions 
he had prepared. These took the stand, not of protest, 
but of absolute refusal to obey the King of England in the 
matter. The audience sat dumb. Such a bold attitude 
was new. The orator finished his speech with the words 
which are familiar to all Americans : 

"Caesar had his Brutus; Charles the First his Crom- 




PATRICK HENRY DELIVERING HIS FAMOUS SPEECH 

well ; and George the Third " Here cries of "Treason ! 

Treason!" were heard all over the house. The young 
orator looked around calmly, then added firmly, "and 
George the Third may profit by their example. If that 
be treason, make the most of it," and quietly took his 
seat. After several days of debate, five out of seven of 
Henry's Resolutions were adopted by the Assembly. This 
placed Virginia in the lead in this great struggle for lib- 



52 FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 

erty, and Henry was now the most prominent figure in 
Virginia. 

One year later the Stamp Act was repealed but the King 
of England had not yet learned his lesson. In 1768 
he again attempted to impose taxes, this time on such 
things as tea, paper, and glass. Thereupon the Ameri- 
cans determined to purchase no English goods which were 
taxed. At length the King yielded to the advice of his 
ministers and the tax on everything but tea was dropped. 
Still the people threw three shiploads of tea into the ocean 
rather than buy it. The King was enraged and ordered 
his troops in America to enforce obedience from his unruly 
colonies. 

THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS 

As continued quarrels with England brought war with 
England nearer and nearer, the disputes among the col- 
onies disappeared and all united to meet the common dan- 
ger. A famous gathering called the Continental Congress 
was held in Philadelphia in 1774. It consisted of repre- 
sentatives from the different colonies. These men met 
to discuss the serious trouble between America and the 
mother country, and to send to England a petition, stat- 
ing colonial rights. This was the first time the colonies 
had ever met together to talk over matters relating to all 
of them. 

Patrick Henry was elected as the representative from 
his colony, and he now showed himself the champion, not 
of Virginia alone, but of the United Colonies, as is shown 
by these words from one of his speeches : 

"The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, 
New Yorkers, and New Englanders are no more. I am not 
a Virginian, but an American." 



PATRICK HENRY 



53 



At this meeting, a petition was made out and sent to 
the King of England, stating what the colonies considered 
their rights and requesting him to consider them. 

But the petition did no good. The King continued to 
afflict the colonists in one way or another to show his 
authority, and the people became more and more bitter 




WASHINGTON AND HENRY 
(On their way to the Continental Congress) 

toward him. When British soldiers, stationed in Boston, 
fired on citizens, Patrick Henry was convinced that war 
must come. In a patriotic meeting in Virginia in 1775 
he made the most notable of all his speeches. 



THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR 

If this had been his only service in the war of the Revo- 
lution, which followed, this alone would have made his 



54 FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 

name a noted one in history, for the ringing patriotism of 
this oration could never be forgotten. This is the most 
famous part: 

Three million of people armed in the holy cause of liberty and 
in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any 
force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall 
not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over 
the destinies of nations and who will raise up friends to fight our 
battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to 
the vigilant, the active, the brave. There is no retreat but in sub- 
mission and slavery. Our chains are forged. Their clanking may 
be heard on the plains of Boston. The war is inevitable. And let 
it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come! . . . 

Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price 
of chains and slavery? Forbid it. Almighty God! I know not 
what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or 
give me death! 

If Henry had stirred his audience in the Assembly of 
Virginia, he did much more now. In this speech he is said 
to have struck the keynote of the Revolution. He carried 
his audience with him until, when he closed, they would 
have done anything he bade. 

War came, years of war in which the little colonies 
struggled against the unjust rule of George III. Pat- 
rick Henry was at once made commander-in-chief of the 
Virginia forces and soon after governor of Virginia. When 
the war was over — the war that made the thirteen Eng- 
lish colonies the United States of America — Patrick Henry 
stood among those who had done most to win the long 
and difficult struggle. Through the whole period of the 
war Henry worked with never failing energy. He could 
not have been of more aid to Washington had he been 
a great general in the field. 

henry's SERVICE TO AMERICA 

Patrick Henry saw that among the colonists the idea of 
liberty had grown more rapidly than it had in England. 



PATRICK HENRY 55 

He realized very early that these new Americans could 
not be content under the rule of a tyrant like George III 
and that a separation from England must come. 

His wonderful power as an orator was not even suspected 
■ — perhaps he himself did not know he could speak — until 
he was stirred by patriotism to defend his country. 
Throughout the remainder of his life, his voice was raised 
whenever his country needed it. His oratory, with the 
keen thought and devoted patriotism which lay back of it, 
was a great help in the War of the Revolution and in the 
times that immediately followed. And so he became one 
of the notable Founders of America. 

Topics for Review and Search 

1. Why did Henry fail in his attempts at farming and business? 
Can you work better when you are interested in what you are 
doing? 

2. When Henry made his first speech, were there many people 
in America who felt the same way he did? What did he mean by 
"Caesar had his Brutus," etc.? (See page 51.) 

3. Did the English people side with their King, or with the 
colonists? 

4. What is the meaning of the word Congress? What is the 
Congress of the United States? How are you represented there? 

5. Did Henry do more by his speaking or by his fighting? Why? 

6. How do we regard an orator today? 

7. Name some famous orators of the present time. 

Suggested Supplementary Reading 

Four American Patriots, Alma Holman Burton (page 9). 
Heroes of Progress in America, Charles Morris (p. 44). 
Patrick Henry, Moses Coit Tyler. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON (1732-1799) 

George Washington was born on the twenty-second of 
February, 1732. That was nearly two hundred years ago, 
but his great name and his services to his country are still 




MOUNT VERNON 



celebrated every year in all the schools of the United 
States. 

The Washington family emigrated from England in 
1658 and settled in the colony of Virginia. The beautiful 
estate on the Potomac River, known later as Mt. Vernon, 
was a gift to Lawrence Washington (George's grand- 
father) from the English King. 

56 



GEORGE WASHINGTON 57 

The boy was fond of outdoor sports and spent most of 
his playtime in the open air, growing strong of body and 
quick of action. In running, jumping, or throwing he 
could surpass any of his playmates. 

George loved to ride horseback and became a splendid 
horseman. A boyhood incident proves his youthful ability 
in this respect as well as his truthfulness. His mother had 
a beautiful horse of which she was very fond, but which 
no one had ever been able to break for horseback riding. 
The boy determined to ride the animal. After getting 
some companions to assist him in putting on the bridle 
he mounted the horse, which began immediately to circle 
about and rear. George held on for dear life. The angry 
animal finally gave one great leap, burst a blood vessel, 
and fell to the ground dead. Shortly after, Mrs. Wash- 
ington came to the barn to see her favorite. Though he 
may have been tempted to deny all knowledge of the affair, 
George truthfully told the entire story. 

In the little country school which George attended he 
was eager to learn, and stood at the head of his class. His 
teacher knew something of land surveying, and of this 
subject the boy became very fond. In and out of school 
he learned all he could of it, and some years later it proved 
valuable knowledge to him. We may say that his early 
knowledge of surveying changed the entire course of his 
life. 

The young boy used to watch the ships that came up 
the Potomac River loaded with articles from the distant 
countries of the world. Boylike he longed to go to sea so 
that he too might learn all about the far-off lands from 
which these ships had come. Mrs. Washington, however, 
could not consent to such a roaming life for her son and 
begged George to give up this ambition. To please his 



58 FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 

mother and to make her happy were the desires uppermost 
in his mind and he gave up the idea of the sea. The 
beautiful devotion and thoughtfulness of George Wash- 
ington, both as a boy and a man, toward his mother were 
two of his great qualities. 

WASHINGTON THE SURVEYOR 

When Washington was but sixteen years of age he was 
offered a position as surveyor by Lord Fairfax, a learned 
and friendly neighbor. When Fairfax came to America 
he had become the owner of a great tract of land in Vir- 
ginia, of which he knew but little. Most of the country in 
those days, outside the cities, towns, and small farms, was 
nothing but a wilderness filled with savage Indians and 
wild animals. A man might know the number of miles his 
property extended without ever having traveled to its 
boundaries. 

George Washington, the lad of sixteen, and Lord Fair- 
fax, the man of sixty, became firm friends and the com- 
panionship proved a liberal education to the young Vir- 
ginian. He read the books in Lord Fairfax's library and 
profited at all times by his instruction. 

The surveying which Fairfax asked Washington to do 
was not easy, but he courageously undertook it. For three 
years he suffered every hardship known to rough frontier 
life. He was in skirmishes with Indians and often had to 
fight off the wild animals of the dense forests. Many 
times he was forced to sleep out in the cold without even 
a tent to shelter him. He had to depend upon the nuts of 
the forest and wild game for food. 

But all this hard work and outdoor life made Wash- 
ington strong and hardy and taught him much about this 
new country. One of the most valuable things he learned 



GEORGE WASHINGTON 59 

was to know the Indian — how he lived, how he fought, and 
how his friendship could be won. It is said that Wash- 
ington so perfectly learned the peculiar walk of the Indian 
that he could deceive the natives themselves. 

So well did the young surveyor do his work that he 
received the high praise of his employer, who secured an 
appointment for him as a public surveyor in Virginia 
when he was but nineteen years of age. 

George's father had died in 1743, leaving the home to 
his oldest son, Lawrence. On the death of Lawrence in 
1752, the young surveyor of twenty-one was left heir to 
the Mt. Vernon estate. Scarcely had he settled down to 
the management of his plantation, an occupation in which 
he took the greatest interest and pleasure, when Ke was 
called to a new task. 

WASHINGTON THE SOLDIER 

We must remember that in those days the United States 
of America as it is known today did not exist, and but a 
small part of our great country was inhabited. This por- 
tion, which extended from Maine to Georgia and from the 
Atlantic ocean to about two hundred miles inland, con- 
sisted of thirteen colonies owned by England. These 
colonies, unlike our states, were practically independent 
of each other. France claimed the land lying between the 
English colonies and the Mississippi River and had already 
built some forts there. England claimed this land also. 
Spain owned Florida and everything west of the Missis- 
sippi River. 

About 1753 the French, determined to show the English 
who it was that owned the disputed territory, began 
the building of more forts in the beautiful valley of the 
Ohio River. This territory was considered by the Vir- 



60 FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 

ginians as a part of their colony, so the Governor deter- 
mined to send someone to order the French to withdraw. 
George Washington was the messenger chosen and no 
choice could have been better, for it was necessary to have 
someone who was courageous, intelligent, and wise, who 
could endure the severest of hardships, and who under- 
stood life in the wilderness. 

With a few companions Washington made this perilous 
journey of one hundred and fifty miles through the dens- 
est of forests, across mountains and swamps, and over 
frozen rivers. At any minute they expected attacks from 
Indians or wild beasts. At length they reached the French 
fort, near the site of the present city of Pittsburgh, and 
delivered the message to the commander. 

He bade them take back the answer that the French 
would remain where they were. 

On the homeward trip the little party was attacked by 
Indians, but managed to escape. For many days they 
marched through the wilderness which had no paths 
except occasional Indian trails. On their way west they 
had "blazed a trail," that is, cut a piece of bark off a tree 
every rod or so. By these marks they found their way 
back. When they reached the Allegheny River it was 
filled with floating cakes of ice. They built a raft and 
attempted to pole it across. It upset, and Washington and 
his companions were thrown into the icy water. They 
barely escaped with their lives. 

When the end of the journey came and Washington pro- 
duced the diary he had kept, he was the hero of Virginia. 
The trip which can now be made in a few hours had taken 
two months and a half. 

The French answer started a seven years' war between 
the English and the French to decide which was to possess 



GEORGE WASHINGTON 



61 



the disputed territory. Trained armies were sent over 
from the two countries and these were assisted by the 
French and English colo'nists in America. George Wash- 
ington was made a colonel and his services proved very 
valuable even to the well- 
trained English troops. The 
Indians had joined with the 
French and no one under- 
stood better than the young 
surveyor how to meet Indian 
methods of warfare. Be- 
cause of the number of In- 
dians who took part in this 
struggle it -was callefl the 
French and Indian War. 

The French were finally 
defeated and England was 
left in full control from the 
Atlantic to the Mississippi. 
At the close of the war 
Washington had become renowned for bravery, wisdom, 
and the brilliance of his fighting methods, and was recog- 
nized as the most distinguished colonial soldier. In spite 
of his success Washington's heart was not in the world 
of warfare and he was very happy when he could return 
to his peaceful life at Mt. Vernon. 

WASHINGTON THE PLANTER 




From the painting by Stuart 

MARTHA WASHINGTON 



Some months after the war was over Washington mar- 
ried beautiful Martha Custis, with whom he lived happily 
for the rest of his hfe. The adding of her estate to 
that of Mt. Vernon brought a very large plantation under 



62 FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 

Washington's care. But there was never work that he 
loved more, or in which he had greater success. 

Mr. and Mrs. Washington were both fond of company, 
and many distinguished guests found their way to Mt. 
Vernon. With them Washington discussed the welfare 
of his colony and worked out plans for its growth and 
prosperity. 

Aside from his busy life on the plantation Washington 
found time to hold positions in connection with the gov- 
ernment of Virginia, and he became famed for his judg- 
ment and clear thinking. Knowing that men must have 
recreation some of the time if they are to be able to do 
their work well. Colonel Washington devoted a part of his 
time to amusements, especially hunting. He owned many 
beautiful horses and fine dogs, and the Mt. Vernon woods 
resounded with the barking of dogs and the tap of horses' 
hoofs. The beautiful Potomac abounded in fish, and from 
boyhood Washington had been an expert fisherman. 

For sixteen years Washington lived the peaceful life 
of a Virginia planter. And then a second time he was 
called from the quiet happiness of Mt. Vernon to the bat- 
tlefield. 

THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR 

After the French and Indian war England found her- 
self heavily in debt. Thereupon her King demanded that 
the American colonies pay a share of this money and also 
support in America an army which would be sent from 
England. At once taxes were laid on various articles, 
which means that to their regular price a certain amount 
was added, which went to the mother country. 

To this method of raising money the colonists said : We 
are perfectly willing to pay our just share of the expense 



GEORGE WASHINGTON 63 

of the late war, but we insist that we be allowed to lay 
the taxes on ourselves in our own assemblies. We have 
no representative in the British government in England, 
and Enghshmen, as you know, have always said, "Taxa- 
tion without representation is tyranny." 

So much trouble arose that the King, George III, finally 
removed all the taxes except the one on tea. This he kept 
merely to show his power. He even made the price of the 
tea in America with the addition of the tax cheaper than 
it was being sold in England without any tax. But it 
was not cheapness the Americans were thinking of. It 
was the fact that if they allowed England to impose even 
one small tax they would be no better than slaves. 

In November, 1773, three large English ships laden 
with tea arrived in Boston harbor. Before the tea could 
be landed a band of young men disguised as Indians 
boarded the vessels in the dead of night and threw the 
entire cargo of tea into the water. This daring act, nick- 
named at once the "Boston Tea Party," proved that the 
Americans were not going to give in. 

But neither was George III going to give in. Enraged 
at the "tea party" act he gave orders to the army which 
he had sent over that it was to enforce obedience at any 
cost. 

Realizing the dangers threatening them some brave 
Americans began preparations for defense. Volunteers 
were called for, hastily drilled, and told to be ready for 
action at a minute's notice. From this they were called 
"minute-men." They were ready none too soon in Massa- 
chusetts, for the skirmish at Lexington was followed by 
the battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1776. 

Now the Americans began preparations on a large scale 
for war. The first thing to be done was to choose an able 



64 FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 

commander-in-chief of the colonial forces. A meeting of 
representatives from the different colonies was called and 
George Washington, by a unanimous vote, was appointed 
to the office. 

Underneath a great elm tree at Cambridge, Massa- 
chusetts, on July 3, 1775, Washington took command of 
the colonial troops. He realized the almost impossible task 
that confronted him — the preparing of raw, untrained 
men to defeat one of the best armies of Europe. But the 
strongest principle of his life — his devotion to duty — 
gave him in this most difficult work the same steadfast 
courage that had characterized his other undertakings. 

Washington was at this time a man of forty-three, tall, 
well-built, and distinguished-looking. He possessed an 
unusual number of the noblest qualities. From his boy- 
hood days he had been a lover of truth and honesty. 
Always he had been found on the side of justice and honor. 
He was wise, courageous, kind, even-tempered, and deeply 
religious. 

During the summer and fall of 1775 the army of George 
III was inactive, and this gave Washington the much 
needed opportunity to get some of his troops ready for the 
long and fearful struggle ahead. 

From the outset of the war the British army had held 
Boston. Washington determined now to drive it out. 
On the night of March 4, 1776, he fortified Dorchester 
Heights outside the city. The soldiers dug up the earth 
and made a wall of it. To prevent the English from hear- 
ing the noise he had his soldiers keep up a continuous 
cannon-fire during the night. When the morning of March 
5 arrived the English were amazed at the sight which met 
their eyes. Washington now could not only resist all 
attacks from behind his strongly fortified hill, but could 



GEORGE WASHINGTON 



65 



destroy the English ships lying in the harbor. There was 
nothing left for the British to do but to embark and sail 
away. This clever outwitting of the enemy showed the 
qualities of generalship which caused Washington's suc- 
cess in the years which fol- 
lowed. 

But General Washington 
did not always meet with 
success in the long, bitter 
period of warfare. The ex- 
pulsion of the enemy from 
Boston was followed by half 
a year of defeats and disas- 
ters. These months were 
known as the "dark days" of 
the Revolution. The blame 
did not lie with Washington, 
however. His soldiers did 
not receive their pay from 
Congress and were much of 
the time without sufficient 

food or clothing. Hence, many refused to re-enlist when 
their terms had expired. Some of the officers under 
Washington proved incompetent, others disloyal or dis- 
obedient. But in spite of everything the colonies remained 
determined, and to prove this, on July 4, 1776, at a great 
meeting in Philadelphia, they declared themselves free 
and independent states. The set of resolutions which 
they signed was called the Declaration of Independence. 

In the fall and winter of 1776 the campaign of the 
Americans in New York ended in a forced retreat down 
through New Jersey to the Delaware River. Here Wash- 
ington stopped the pursuers by sending his men across 




Fium the painting by Stuart 

GEORGE WASHINGTON 



66 



FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 



in every boat he could find. The British had to settle 
down in Trenton until they could get more boats, or until 
the river should freeze over. This was but a few days 
before Christmas. 

Washington now planned a daring and brilliant stroke. 
Feeling certain that the British army, overjoyed at their 
successful rout of the Americans, would settle down to 




WASHINGTON CROSSING THE DELAWARE 

Christmas merrymaking, the General determined to re- 
cross the Delaware and capture Trenton. It was a bit- 
terly cold night, the current of the river was rapid, and 
the stream was filled with floating cakes of ice, but the 
little band of twenty-four hundred men boldly started out 
about six o'clock on Christmas night. It was four o'clock 
in the morning before the east bank of the Delaware was 
reached. Two of the men had frozen to death, and others 
were ill from the dreadful exposure. Arriving in New 
Jersey the brave little army had a march of nine miles 
over bad roads and through a terrific storm of rain and 
hail. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON 67 

The British were completely taken by surprise and were 
utterly unprepared for the attack. The commander him- 
self was asleep, while the soldiers were enjoying a holiday 
dinner. The battle which followed the surprise attack 
lasted scarcely half an hour, and when it was over the 
Americans were in possession of much needed ammuni- 
tion and other supplies, and had captured a thousand 
prisoners. 

One of the ablest of the English commanders in America 
was Lord Cornwallis. At this time he was in New York 
making preparations to sail for England, because he 
thought the war was practically over. Now in dismay 
he started a hasty march into New Jersey with a strong 
force. Arriving at Trenton late one afternoon, he de- 
termined to let his weary army rest until morning. All 
night long the British watched the camp fires of their 
enemy and listened without anxiety to the noise of forti- 
fying the city. They felt very sure that when morning 
came their superior force could retake Trenton in a few 
hours, and have their hearts' desire — Washington and his 
troops as prisoners. 

Again Washington had outwitted an experienced army. 
The glowing fires and the noise of fortifying had been 
kept up by a few men to deceive the enemy while the army 
had slipped quietly away in the dead of night to Princeton. 

Near this town Washington met an army of British 
on their way to assist Cornwallis. The result of the bat- 
tle that followed was complete success for Washington.. 
The joyous news flew through the colonies and soon 
reached Europe. In less than three weeks, with a small, 
poorly-trained, and discouraged army, Washington had 
won two brilliant victories. He was pronounced the great- 
est military genius of the age. 



68 



FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 



The winter of 1777-1778 proved the most wretched 
period of the war. The American army had been com- 
pelled to go into winter quarters at Valley Forge in Penn- 
sylvania. The weather was very cold; the huts were 
utterly without warmth or comfort ; and the men were in 
rags, many of them even without shoes. Had it not been 




WASHINGTON IN WINTER QUARTERS AT VALLEY FORGE 

for the wonderful courage and sympathy of the great com- 
mander, who bore every hardship with them, the band of 
patriots could never have endured their bitter trials. 

LAFAYETTE 

But with spring help came to Washington from abroad. 
France acknowledged the independence of the United 
States of America. The French had already shown their 
85mipathy for the patriot cause by lending the Americans 
much-needed money. The greatest help France gave the 
colonies was in the person of one man. The rich and bril- 
liant nobleman of nineteen, Lafayette, had left a young 



GEORGE WASHINGTON 



69 



wife and a beautiful home in France and come to America. 
He said, "The moment I heard of America, I loved her ; the 
moment I knew she was fighting for freedom, I burnt with 
a desire of bleeding for her; and the moment I shall be 
able to serve her, at any time or in any part of the world, 
will be the happiest one of my life." 

When he reached Philadelphia, Congress made him a 




LAFAYETTE AXD WASHINGTON 

major-general. He refused any pay, and became one of 
Washington's most valued assistants. He fought through 
the entire war and was wounded, but returned safe to 
France and his wife when the war was over. 

No other foreigner has been of such great service to our 
country as was Lafayette, and America has felt herself in 
debt to him and to France for these one hundred and forty 
years. When in 1918 the American soldiers, in their 
khaki, marched into Paris, we were glad to feel we could 



70 FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 

repay. And when General Pershing laid a wreath on the 
great Frenchman's tomb with the words, "Lafayette, we 
are here," he expressed America's love and gratitude for 
the timely aid which France had given so long ago. 

Year after year the war dragged on until October, 1781. 
Lord Cornwallis determined now to strike a blow at Vir- 
ginia. Lafayette was sent to hinder his march, and well 
he knew how to do it, having had his training under Wash- 
ington. One of the great General's master strokes in deal- 
ing with the enemy was to tire out with a small number of 
men a superior force. He would annoy the army of the 
enemy at unexpected times, but at the same time keep 
safely out of its way, interfere with its progress, forcing 
it, in hopes of an attack, to march for days in a round- 
about course. In this way Lafayette held back Cornwallis 
until re-enforcements came to him. When the English 
general said of Lafayette, "The boy cannot escape me 
now," he forgot that the "boy" had been training under 
Washington for four years. 

In August Cornwallis was permitted to move down 
York River to Yorktown. Washington, who was in New 
York, decided to attempt the capture of the English com- 
mander. He hurried south and by another of his brilliant 
schemes the British army was completely hemmed in. 
Their only chance for escape was by the sea, but the 
Americans disabled some vessels coming to Cornwallis's 
assistance and took away this hope. 

On October 6 the bombarding of Yorktown began, and 
on October 17 the white flag was raised over the city. Two 
days later Cornwallis surrendered to Washington, and 
the great War of Independence v/as over. The thirteen 
colonies were an independent nation — soon to be known as 
the United States of America. George Washington, who 



GEORGE WASHINGTON 



71 



had brought about this great change in history, was the 
most distinguished man of his time. 

OUR FIRST PRESIDENT 

As an independent nation it was necessary to form a 
better government than the one hurriedly constructed at 
the outbreak of the war, and to choose someone to be at 




WASHINGTON TAKING THE OATH AS PRESIDENT 



the head of the new government. All eyes turned to Wash- 
ington. The man who had been "first in war" was now to 
become "first in peace." An able body of men composed 
the Constitution of the "United States," and in January, 
1789, Washington was unanimously elected President of 
the United States to carry out the laws of the new nation. 
It was with a sad heart that the great man for the third 
time left the quiet of his beloved Mt. Vernon, where he 
had hoped to spend the remaining years of his life. But 



72 FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 

if his heart was sad, his courage in the undertaking and 
his determination to do his duty were as strong as ever 
before. 

On his way to New York, then the capital of our coun- 
try, to be made President, all the people in every city and 
town turned out to see him. His path was strewn with 
flowers and the bells of the city were rung. He did not 
go in a fine train as we do now, for our modern ways 
of travel were unknown to Washington. He rode the 
entire way on horseback, surrounded by many fine horse- 
men. He passed beneath many a triumphal arch, while 
people shouted his praises. At Trenton, where you re- 
member he had won the great victory after crossing the 
Delaware, he walked upon a path of flowers, while'the 
young girls sang songs of praise and gratitude. How 
different was this day from that on which he marched 
for nine miles against the sleet and wind ! 

For eight years the best loved man in America guided 
with a wise hand the new nation and saw it safely on its 
path to future happiness and prosperity. The people would 
have re-elected Washington for a third term but the great 
man refused. Following this example no rpan has ever 
served as president for more than two terms. 

During Washington's years in office a third loving title 
was added to the two others his country had conferred 
on him. He had now become "first in the hearts of his 
countrymen." 

After Washington's presidential terms were over he 
returned to the quiet of his lovely Mt. Vernon home. But 
he did not live long to enjoy the desired peace. He had 
shortened his life through his hard work and devotion to 
his country. The entire nation was thrown into sorrow 
at his death, which came on December 14, 1799, less than 



GEORGE WASHINGTON 73 

three years after he retired from public life, in which he 
had been such a prominent figure for forty years. 

The name of George Washington shall always be held 
dear, for as Abraham Lincoln said .... "That name is 
the mightiest name of the earth, — long since mightiest m 
the cause of civic liberty ; still mightiest in moral reforma- 
tion. On that name no eulogy is expected. It cannot be. 
To add brightness to the sun, or glory to the name of 
Washington is alike impossible. Let none attempt it. 
In solemn awe pronounce the name, and in its naked, 
deathless splendor leave it shining on." 

A FOUNDER OF THE NATION 

No other man in the entire history of our country has 
done so much for it as Washington. Without his general- 
ship the Revolutionary War could not have been won, and 
the colonies united in a nation. When the war was over, 
he was the one man who was trusted by all and to whom 
all looked for guidance. Because they loved him and be- 
lieved in him he was able to get men of widely differing 
views to work together. And when his presidency was 
over he had the new government safely started and under 
way. 

Topics for Review and Search 

1. Why would Washington have approved of the Boy Scouts? 

2. Tell the stories you like best of Washington the soldier. 

3. Find out all you can about Lafayette. 

4. What do you think the greatest thing Washington ever did? 

5. Is or is not Washington still considered our greatest Amer- 
ican? Why? 

Suggested Supplementary Reading 

The True Story of George Washington, Elbridge S. Brooks. 
Young Folks' Life of Washington, E. E. Brown. 
George Washington, Horace E. Scudder. 



ROBERT MORRIS (1734-1806) 

As a child Robert Morris lived in Liverpool, a large 
seaport of England. His father came to America when 
Robert was a little boy, leaving him in the care of his 
grandfather and grandmother. The grandfather was a 
sailor, who made voyages along the English coast. Rob- 
ert learned to love the big ships as they came into the 
harbor. Here, too, he dreamed great dreams of taking 
long trips on these vessels and perhaps some day owning 
a ship of his own. 

In America the father soon made a success of his busi- 
ness as a tobacco merchant. In 1747 he sent for his 
thirteen-year-old son and upon his arrival placed him as 
an apprentice in a large merchant firm in Philadelphia. 
The boy's services proved so valuable and his ability for 
business so remarkable that he was made a member of 
the firm when only twenty years of age. The new firm 
under the name of "Willing and Morris" became one of 
the most prosperous in Philadelphia. The merchants 
owned large ships which they sent to and from Europe 
and the West Indies. Morris's boyhood dream of the sea 
was realized. 

The merchant Robert Morris soon became a prominent 
citizen of Philadelphia and tried hard to increase the 
growth and development of his adopted home. Through- 
out the city he was known for his honesty, his love of what 
was right, and his marvelous industry. He little dreamed, 

74 



EGBERT MORRIS 75 

however, what a great part he was to play later in the 
affairs, not of Philadelphia alone, but of the entire thirteen 
colonies. 

THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION 

When Robert Morris was about forty years old, trouble 
broke out between England and her American colonies. 
Morris hoped the difficulties could be settled peaceably. 
"Our people," he said after the struggle had started, 
"knew not the hard- 
ships and calamities of 
war when they so 
boldly dared Britain to 
arms." 

It is said that in 
1775 about one hun- 
dred of the leading 
citizens of Philadel- 
phia, of whom Mr. 
Morris was the head, 
had met to express 
their wishes for peace. 
During the meeting a 
messenger arrived, 
bringing the news of 

T • __L i.1- x: X ROBERT MORRIS 

Lexmgton, the first 

battle of the Revolution, whereupon most of the citizens 
rushed out to take the part of England. Morris was left 
alone, facing an empty house. At that instant he deter- 
mined to take his stand with the American colonies 
against the tyranny of King George. 

A Committee on Public Safety was appointed, of which 
Benjamin Franklin was chosen President and Morris 




76 FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 

Vice-President. It was the duty of this committee to 
fortify the city, organize the militia, and provide guns and 
ammunition. In 1775 Morris was elected a member of 
Congress and served on many committees. He was an 
important member of the navy committee and looked after 
the receiving of guns and powder from foreign countries. 
His advice upon money matters was everywhere accepted. 
Morris willingly gave his services wherever they were 
needed. He said, "It is the duty of every individual to 
act his part in whatever station his country may call him 
to in hours of difficulty, danger, and distress. A good 
citizen will follow if he cannot lead." 

RAISING MONEY FOR THE ARMY 

All wars require large sums of money. To Morris was 
assigned the difficult task of raising the necessary money 
for the American army. It was a patriotic duty, as neces- 
sary as that of commanding the troops. If the soldiers 
were not fed, clothed, and equipped with arms, they could 
not fight, and these things could not be done without 
money. Finance is another word for money, and a finan- 
cier is, therefore, one who knows about money. Robert 
Morris was the great financier of our American Revolu- 
tion who did much to help the country through the most 
difficult period of its history. 

He was often requested to supply money at a moment's 
notice. One day a messenger came from General Wash- 
ington, asking that a large sum of money be sent him 
without delay. In such esteem was Morris held that he 
was able by going in person to the homes of private indi- 
viduals to raise the entire amount. The next day he sent 
the money with this note to his commander-in-chief : "I 
was honored with your favor of yesterday late last night 



ROBERT MORRIS 



77 



and ever solicitous to comply with your request, I am up 
very early this morning to dispatch a supply of $50,000 to 
your Excellency." 

In spite of the fact that Morris was busy with public 
affairs, his remarkable industry enabled him to carry on 
for some time his private business. Because of this many 
accused him of using his knowledge of the government 




CONTINENTAL CURRENCY 

affairs to increase his own fortune. The attacks upon him 
were bitter and unjust^ but Morris realized, as every pub- 
lic man has to realize, that he could not please everyone. 
In order to prove his honesty he insisted that his accounts 
be examined by Congress, which pronounced him innocent. 
Since the colonies had now set up their own govern- 
ment, they wanted to have money of their own, instead 
of using the English money as they had done before. 



78 



FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 



Since there was very little silver and gold in the country, 
paper notes, or bills, of many denominations were issued. 
These were soon worth less than the value printed on 
them, because the government was still weak. 

THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK 

When the Revolutionary War broke out the one thing 
that was necessary above all others in America was to 
bring about a strong feeling of unity among the colonies, 
which heretofore had been entirely independent of each 
other. Morris believed that one way to bring about this 




FIRST MONET COINED BY THE UNITED STATES 

unity was by the establishment of a National Bank. The 
first thing necessary was to have a considerable sum of 
money to start the bank. Since the American government 
was too poor to furnish any funds, an agent was sent to 
France for the purpose of borrowing money. Because of 
the war with England this was a most dangerous under- 
taking, as the English might at any time attempt to cap- 
ture the ship with this money as a prize of war. 

The ship containing the valuable loan was driven by a 
storm so that it landed at Boston, and the money had to be 
taken to Philadelphia by land. Morris gave careful instruc- 
tions for the protection of the money. It was put in double 



ROBERT MORRIS 79 

casks, which were loaded on carts drawn by oxen. Guards 
were stationed all along the way. After two months it 
arrived safely in Philadelphia and Morris's National Bank 
was then established- Within two years the bank was 
able to lend $100,000 to the United States— fulfilMng a 
prophecy of Morris that it would one day support our 
government. 

Another great act of Morris's was the establishing of 
a United States mint. America needed not only a bank in 
which to keep her money, but also a mint in which to coin 
money. Congress approved of Morris's plan, and the first 
mint was established at Philadelphia. Today there are 
five mints in the United States. 

FURTHER PATRIOTIC SERVICES 

After the war there remained the difficult task of pay- 
ing the American soldiers for their faithful services. 
This Morris succeeded in doing in such a way as to give 
satisfaction to all. He was also responsible for paying 
back the large sums of money which the United States 
had borrowed from foreign countries and private per- 
sons to carry on the war. He then presented a final re- 
port of his work, during his long term of office, and made 
a farewell address to the people of the United States. 

But his services to his country were not at an end. You 
must remember that we had just gained our independence 
and, as a young republic, there was the important task of 
framing a government under which we were to live. Rob- 
ert Morris had always been interested in questions of gov- 
ernment and when the time came to draw up a Constitu- 
tion for the new republic, he was sent as a delegate to the 
Convention. The Constitution of the United States, under 
which we are now living, is the great and lasting memor- 



80 FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 

ial of this Convention. Then Robert Morris was made a 
Senator from the State of Pennsylvania, and immediately 
took up his public duties at New York, which was at that 
time the capital of the United States. His six years of 
labor as Senator from Pennsylvania added more glory to 
an already glorious past in the service of his country. 

LATER LIFE 

Morris was at one time considered the wealthiest man 
in America. His ships brought him the great treasures 
of China and the East. His beautiful country home, over- 
looking the Schuylkill River, known as "The Hills," was 
the scene of much social life and gayety. Here he 
brought his many friends to enjoy the delightful life of 
the country. The grounds were laid out in artistic gar- 
dens and parks. There were marvelous fruit trees and 
tropical plants to please the taste and to delight the eye. 
The whole place breathed an air of hospitality. Among 
the many friends of Robert Morris who visited him there 
was President George Washington. 

This beautiful home was destroyed during the war, 
when the British entered Philadelphia. The family then 
moved to an attractive city home in Philadelphia where 
they lived next door to President Washington. Robert 
Morris, however, was not satisfied with this house, and 
purchasing a large amount of land, he engaged the best 
architect to build for him a marble palace. This home 
was to be the most beautiful in America and money was 
not to be considered in its construction. Ships from 
abroad brought its furniture and decorations. This mag- 
nificent home was the one great mistake in Morris's life. 
He was unable to pay the huge bills which such an under- 



ROBERT MORRIS 81 

taking brought. After four years, the house was still un- 
finished and there was no more money with which to con- 
tinue the work. 

Morris was rich in land, but land could not easily be 
changed into the money he so desired. He had bought 
millions of acres in the middle west, hoping to settle this 
land with emigrants from across the sea, but these settlers 
had not yet come and he was unable to sell it. He 
who had supplied the great army of the Revolution 
with money and had never failed to meet the demands 
made upon him could not now pay his own debts. The 
bank which he had established refused to accept his bills. 
The people to whom he owed money were constantly de- 
manding that they be paid. The beautiful home in which 
he had hoped to live was never finished. The rain leaked 
in through the frame roof, discoloring the marble walls. 
The workmen refused to continue their work on mere 
promises instead of money. Even the furniture was given 
in place of money to pay his debts. 

The people whom Morris owed cruelly demanded that 
he be placed in prison — the fate of all debtors in those 
early days. His friends could not save him from this 
bitter humiliation. He was placed in a small, over- 
crowded room, filled wit|i numerous other prisoners. His 
family came often to brighten his long weary hours and 
stayed with him most of the day. George Washington 
remained Morris's loyal friend throughout his great mis- 
fortune. Upon one occasion, Washington dined with 
Morris in his prison. 

He remained a prisoner for over three years, when he 
was released by the passage of a new law by Congress. 
He was then sixty-eight years of age. 

The great financier of our American Revolution lived 



82 FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 

only five years more. It is sad to think he could not have 
known, during his lifetime, how high he was to stand in 
the history of his country. 

morris's service to AMERICA 

Among the patriots of this time, Morris's name stands 
nearly as high as Washington's. By raising the money 
which paid the expenses of the Revolution, he performed 
a great service for his country. If it had not been for this 
help it is doubtful whether the colonies could have won the 
war. He was the noblest type of patriot. No man ever 
responded more quickly to his country's call, or worked 
with greater faithfulness for its good. 

Topics for Review and Search 

1. What is an apprentice? Do we have apprentices now in 
America ? If so, in what trades ? 

2. How was money raised in the United States to carry on the 
World War? 

3. Did governments lend each other money in the World War? 
If so, how were the loans managed? 

4. Why do we need banks? 

Suggested Supplementary Reading 

Historic Americans, E. S. Brooks (p. 130). 
Makers of Our History, J. T. Faris (p. 37). 
Heroes of Progress in America, Charles Morris (p. 66). 



JOHN PAUL JONES (1747-1792) 

We come now to a hero whose career reads like an excit- 
ing chapter from some tale of the imagination. This man 
is John Paul, or John Paul Jones, as we call him today, 
and his name is known throughout the world because of 
his patriotic deeds of bravery and daring. 

The parents of John Paul were simple peasant folk, hon- 
est and hardworking. The father was a gardener and 
lived on the southwestern coast of Scotland. 

John Paul at an early age had to help in the support 
of the simple little home. At twelve years he was un- 
usually strong and well developed, often passing for a boy 
of sixteen. The opportunities for education were few, so 
the sea became his textbook and he learned his nature 
lessons well. He was not satisfied, however, with watch- 
ing the ships as they passed his home, or fishing a short 
distance from the shore ; he longed to sail away to other 
lands. 

HIS FIRST VOYAGE 

Whitehaven, the principal seaport of that section of the 
country, was not far distant. From here ships set out on 
long ocean voyages. One day John's father was at White- 
haven, talking with one of the ship owners. As the two 
men sat looking out upon the water, a sudden storm arose. 
Far out in the water they could see a small fishing boat, 
well controlled by a boy. Mr. Younger, the merchant, 
became alarmed at the grave danger to the boy, but Mr. 

83 



84 



FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 



Paul calmly remarked, "That is my boy, John, conning the 
boat. He will fetch her in. This isn't much of a squall 
for him." 

Now it happened that Mr. Younger had a fine new ship 
fitted out for a voyage to Virginia and the West Indies, 
and was looking for capable young sailors. He quickly 

secured the consent of the 
father, sent for the boy, and 
offered to make a sailor of 
him. And so it was that John 
Paul started upon his first 
ocean voyage, arriving after 
thirty-two days off the coast 
of Virginia. 

He advanced rapidly in the 
service of Mr. Younger, and 
remained with him four years. 
For the next four years 
John Paul was mate on a ship, 
and then captain of a new 
merchant ship which sailed for the West Indies and Amer- 
ica. He commanded this vessel upon three voyages ; then 
he gave up the seafaring life and became a farmer in 
North Carolina. 




JOHN PAUL JONES 



JOHN PAUL JONES, CAPTAIN 



Then came the declaration of war from the colonies 
and the appointment of George Washington as com- 
mander-in-chief of the American forces. John Paul at 
once offered his services to the government, and when at 
length a small fleet of warships had been fitted out by the 
colonies, he was made First Lieutenant of the Alfred. 



JOHN PAUL JONES 85 

From now on John Paul was known as John Paul Jones. 
The story is that he took this name out of gratitude to a 
Mr. Jones who had befriended him in North Carolina. 

England had a large merchant navy cruising in Ameri- 
can waters, and it was the capture of these vessels that the 
government desired. The cruise of the Alfred lasted 
from February until April of the year 1776, without 
accomplishing anything worthy of note. As a result, the 
captain was dismissed for incapable service and John Paul 
Jones made captain of the Providence, another warship. 

The cruises undertaken by Captain Jones were remark- 
able for their great success. In six weeks he had captured 
sixteen ships, all larger and better equipped than the little 
American frigate. These captures were valuable, as the 
enemy's vessels contained ammunition and army sup- 
plies, which became the property of the Americans, who 
needed just these things. 



THE RANGER 

In the fall of 1777 France decided to help the Ameri- 
cans. Thereupon Captain Jones was commissioned to 
sail for France in the warship Ranger, and ask that coun- 
try to fit him out with a well-equipped and swift frigate 
in order that he might make raids on the English coast. 
The voyage of the Ranger should never be forgotten, for 
on the masthead of this vessel floated the new flag, the 
"Stars and Stripes," the first time it ever appeared on 
any American warship. 

When Captain Jones arrived in France the government 
was not prepared to construct a new boat at once, so the 
order was given that the Ranger should be remodeled 
and used for a time. When this was done, Jones started 



86 FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 

for the English Coast, intending to burn the ships and 
ship yards there. This, he hoped, would teach the British 
warships to stop destroying and carrying away property 
along the American coast. 

He set fire to one large ship and frightened the people 
so that an English warship, the Drake, was sent out to 
capture the Ranger. After a battle of little more than 
an hour the larger and better equipped vessel, with its 

crew of skilled seamen, was 

r-tj . compelled to surrender. 

r^^^^^ Great was the rejoicing in 

IlJ^ ^ jK\ France when Captain Jones 

Mf^^^^^^^^^^i^ sailed into port, towing after 

t^^mil^^^k& ^^^^ him his famous prize. It was 

-=^"^^^^^^^^^5=- now proved to the world that 

an American sailor, John Paul 

SHIPS OF JONES'S TIME 

Jones, in spite of inferior 
vessels, could conquer those who "had conquered the 
sea." 

But one cannot live upon victory alone, which fact Cap- 
tain Jones soon learned by bitter experience. There were 
his seamen to feed and many heavy expenses to meet, 
which then made it necessary for him to sell his prize 
frigate, the Drake. Finally, however, the French King 
promised him a better ship to command. Jones, there- 
upon, allowed the Ranger to return to America under a 
new captain. 

And now began for John Paul Jones weary months of 
waiting. It looked as though the King had forgotten his 
promise. Many of the French officers, jealous of Captain 
Jones's success, did their best to prevent his receiving a 
new ship to command. As none but the nobility were 
given positions of authority in the French navy, the out- 



JOHN PAUL JONES 87 

look was most discouraging for this son of a Scotch 
peasant. 

Jones determined at length to appeal to the King in per- 
son. This was the wisest thing he could have done, for so 
pleased was the monarch with the personality of the young 
American officer that he gave him one of the French war- 
ships, which Jones named the Bon Homme Richard, or 
"Poor Richard." He had just been reading the Almanac 
of Benjamin Franklin, who signed himself "Poor Rich- 
ard," and so much did he admire the author that he named 
his ship for him. The King later gave him command of 
three other smaller vessels. 

With this famous little fleet Jones set out on his cruise 
off the British Isles in August of the year 1779. One who 
knew him well has written the following : 

He was the captain of captains. He always knew every officer 
or man in his crew as one friend knows another. Those big black 
eyes of his would look right through a new man at first sight and 
maybe see something behind him. I have seen him one hour teach- 
ing the French language to his midshipmen and the next hour 
showing an apprentice how to knot a Turk's-head. He was in 
everybody's watch and everybody's mess all the time. The men 
used to go crazy about him when he was with them and talking 
to them. If you heard peals of laughter from the forecastle, it 
was likely that he was there, spinning funny yarns for Jack off 
watch. If you heard a roar of merriment at the cabin table, it 
was likely that his never failing wit overwhelmed the officers' 
mess. 



His FAMOUS BATTLE . 

The first English ship attacked was the Serapis, com- 
manded by the brave Captain Pearson. The Serapis was 
a fine new English warship, manned by skilled officers, 
while the Bon Homme Richard was old, and many of its 



88 



FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 



crew inexperienced. When Captain Pearson recognized 
Jones in command of the Bon Homme Richard, he said to 
his crew, "There is work ahead !" Each captain knew the 
naval skill of his opponent. Shortly after the fighting 
commenced two cannon balls pierced the rotten wood of 
the Richard and she began to leak badly. Captain Pearson 




A SEA FIGHT OF THE PERIOD 

seeing this, called out "Has your ship struck?" Back came 
Jones's answer that still resounds through the world, "I 
have not yet begun to fight !" This was a bold statement 
from a captain who knew he was in a desperate situation. 
But a daring plan had come into his mind. He determined 
to get close enough to the Serapis to board the vessel and 
defeat the crew in a hand-to-hand combat. He boldly ran 
the Richard close alongside the Serapis and at once the 
spars and rigging of the vessels became entangled. The 
fighting started madly. Suddenly a sailor on the Richard 
shouted that the ship was sinking. But the gallant cap- 
tain disdained all thought of surrender. Commanding his 



JOHN PAUL JONES 



89 



men to take their places at the guns, he brought order out 
of confusion, and began a steady and terrific firing. It 
was Jones's wonderful calmness, his clear instructions, 
and his absolute refusal to consider such a thing as defeat 
that brought victory to the Richard. After hours of des- 
perate fighting Captain Pearson surrendered. A few 
hours after the Serapis had been boarded the Richard 
sank. 

Like wildfire the news of this remarkable victory spread 
through Europe. Jones was the hero of the day, and 
America now stood 
among the naval powers 
of the world. 

When the great sea 
captain died he was 
buried in Paris, which 
had been a second home 
to him. In time the 
exact location of his grave was forgotten. But when 
Americans realized this, they set to work and, in 1905, 
through the efforts of the American minister to France, 
the grave was found, and the remains brought to America. 
The body of our first great naval hero now rests in the 
new chapel of the Naval Academy at Annapolis. 




MEDAL PRESENTED BY CONGRESS TO 
JOHN PAUL JONES 



WHAT JOHN PAUL JONES DID FOR AMERICA 

At the beginning of the Revolution the colonies had no 
navy, while England had the greatest fleet on the seas. 
Before the war was over Jones had defeated some of her 
largest ships. His famous victory over the Serapis put 
new heart into the Americans, while it discouraged the 
British. By this and his other successes on the sea he was 



90 FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 

of the greatest help in winning the war and making the 
American colonies a free and united nation. 

Topics for Review and Search 

1. Do you think John Paul had a happy youth? 

2. What kind of sea captain was he? What kind of fighter? 

3. How did the men under Jones regard him? 

4. What did he do toward winning the Revolution? 

5. Find out who was the American naval hero in the Spanish- 
American War. 

Suggested Supplementary Reading 

Life of Paul Jones, John S. C. Abbott. 
Commodore Paul Jones, Cyrus Townsend Brady. 
Paul Jones, Molly Eliot Seawell. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON (1757-1804) 

In 1757, when Washington was already a man of 
twenty-five, a boy was born in the West Indies who was to 
become a great American patriot — by name, Alexander 
Hamilton. He spent his youth on the island of Nevis, 
which was a most beautiful place, with the luxuriant 
foliage and the bright-feathered birds of the tropics. 
Alexander lived in a great house on a plantation where 
there were many natives to wait on him. His mother 
was a woman of strong character and had a well-trained 
mind. She taught him at home, and he spoke French as 
well as he spoke English. 

His mother died before Alexander was twelve, and dur- 
ing the next few years he educated himself by reading. 

He was soon at work with a merchant company. Such 
unusual ability did he have in the management of affairs 
that by the time he was thirteen he was often left entirely 
in charge of the business. One day there was a terrible 
hurricane in the West Indies. For hours Hamilton rode 
through this storm in order to warn others of its coming. 
When it was over he wrote such a marvelous account of 
it that the Governor of the island persuaded his relatives 
to send him away to school. 

He was fifteen when he left the West Indies for the 
American colonies, which at this time belonged to Eng- 
land. At Elizabethtown, New Jersey, he entered a gram- 
mar school, where he worked faithfully. At the close of 
the year he was ready for college. He entered King's Col- 

91 



92 FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 

lege, now Columbia University, in New York, where he 
made an excellent record. He showed an active interest in 
questions of government, politics, and finance, and had 
his own well-worked out ideas on these subjects. After 
school hours he would often walk out among the trees, 
thinking deeply and talking to himself. Great things were 
prophesied for his future. 

Just at this time serious trouble was beginning between 
England and her American colonies. Excitement was 
growing, and everywhere people were meeting to discuss 
separation from the mother country. The New York 
Assembly was under the control of friends of England, 
and did not sympathize with the colonists. A meeting, at 
which Hamilton was present, was held July 6, 1774, for 
the purpose of winning New York for the American cause. 
After listening awhile to the half-hearted speakers, the 
twenty-year-old youth leaped to the platform and deliv- 
ered an inspiring and eloquent address in support of the 
colonies. His reputation was made, and from that time 
he took an active part in the great war. 

HAMILTON'S PART IN THE REVOLUTION 

When war was declared Hamilton was made Captain of 
the artillery, where his fine powers of discipline soon at- 
tracted the attention of General Greene, who introduced 
him to Washington. This kindness Hamilton never for- 
got, as it put him in line for higher promotion. He proved 
himself worthy of the admiration of Greene, when his 
ability was soon after tested. In the battle of Long Island 
Hamilton saved the day by his coolness and courage. He 
then marched his forces through New Jersey and took 
an active part in the battles of Trenton and Princeton. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON 



93 



Washington rewarded him by promotion to the rank of 
Lieutenant Colonel. 

This new position brought him into close touch with 
the great personality of Washington, and a friendship 
sprang up between the young officer and the great com- 
mander, which lasted all their lives. One of Hamilton's 
duties was the care 
of Washington's very 
large correspondence. 
In the way he an- 
swered important let- 
ters and messages, and 
in his management of 
reports we see his 
masterly ability to 
handle the most diffi- 
cult situations. 

Hamilton won his 
military reputation at 
the battle of York- 
town, where he com- 
manded an important 
attacking column. 
With youthful daring 

he rushed upon the British stronghold, which he succeeded 
in taking in ten minutes. He served through the long 
years of the Revolutionary struggle and laid down his 
sword only to take up a new work in behalf of the country 
he had fought for so valiantly. 

THE CONSTITUTION 

At the close of the Revolution the American Colonies 
had become an independent nation. But the country was 




ALEXANDER HAMILTON 



94 



FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 



in a pitiable condition. The soldiers had come home with 
health broken by the hardships of the war. Many of them 
had not been paid because there was no money. The 
navy consisted of old worn-out ships and there was little 
commerce. The states were quarreling among them- 
selves. Hamilton saw the dangers which threatened the 

new nation, and realized 
5 that it would succeed only 
S by union. 

He was one of the men 
sent to Philadelphia to 
draw up a new Constitu- 
tion or plan of govern- 
ment. The best minds of 
the country were there, 
and the document those 
men wrote is the same we 
have today with a few 
changes. Most of the dele- 
gates were keenly anxious 
about their own states and 
feared that some other 
state might gain the ad- 
vantage. Not so Hamilton. 
Though he lived in New York, Hamilton asked no favors 
for it. His mind was large enough to look to the good of 
all the states. He believed that it was for the best inter- 
ests of all to give much power to the central government 
and little power to the separate states. Many of the dele- 
gates thought just the opposite, but by persuasion and 
compromise Hamilton won most of them to his way of 
thinking. 

Within a month after the new Constitution was drawn 




FEDERAL HALL 
(Where Washington was inaugurated) 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON 95 

up, eight of the thirteen states had adopted it. Two-thirds 
of all, or nine, had to do so before it could go into effect. 
New York held back for nearly a month longer, but finally 
yielded to the urging of Hamilton, who had been con- 
stantly writing articles which showed the advantages of 
union. 

The people of New York City celebrated the adoption of 
the Constitution by a parade. A magnificent float, made 
to represent a ship, was drawn by ten white horses. This 
stood for "The Ship of State" (the government) and the 
platform which held the ship bore in large letters the 
name : Alexander Hamilton. 

He deserved the enthusiastic admiration which the city 
gave him, for no other man had so much to do with uniting 
the states. He had helped write the Constitution and 
secured its adoption ; now he was to help in getting it car- 
ried out. 

SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY 

Washington had been elected the first President and he 
gathered about him the ablest men for his Cabinet. For 
Secretary of the Treasury he selected Hamilton. Im- 
portant as this position is today, it was still more so at 
that time. 

The close of the Revolution left the new-formed nation 
in debt. There were debts to foreign countries, and debts 
to its own soldiers who had never received their pay. 
Money was needed, too, for the support of the new gov- 
ernment. 

In order to raise money, Hamilton proposed a tax on 
things made in this country. He wished also to start a 
national bank, and have all money — whether coin or cur- 
rency — issued by the government and not by the separate 



96 



FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 



states. In this way the government, or all the people, 
would stand back of every bill, so it would always be worth 
the amount printed on it. 

It was Hamilton who really made Washington the cap- 
ital of our country. The people of the northern states 
wanted the capital on the Hudson river. The southerners 




THE CAPITOL AT WASHINGTON 
(As It is today) 



were just as eager to have it in Virginia. Hamilton got 
all to agree on making a district on the Potomac, so that 
no state could claim the capital. 

It is a pity that Hamilton could not have lived to see his 
country grow and prosper as he had wished. And it is a 
greater pity that the country he loved could not have had 
the benefits of his untiring devotion until an old age. His 
death came in a tragic form when he was only forty-eight 
years old. He was killed in a duel — for duels were still 
common affairs in his day — by a political opponent. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON 97 

HAMILTON'S SERVICE TO OUR COUNTRY 

Alexander Hamilton did as much as any man toward 
uniting the colonies. He continually urged his country- 
men to put the good of the whole nation above the good of 
any particular state. When he took up the matter of a 
money system, he insisted that the whole country should 
be responsible for debts owed by any of the states. It has 
been said of him that he surpassed all the men of his time 
in his efforts "to create, recommend, adopt, and defend the 
Constitution of the United States." 

Topics for Review and Search 

1. Can a man bom out of the United States become a real 
American patriot? What makes an American? 

2. What was Hamilton's greatest service to America ? 

3. Do we now consider fighting a duel a brave act? 

4. Find out how many capitals our country has had, and what 
they were. 

Suggested Supplementary Reading 

Historic Americans, E. S. Brooks (p. 115). 

Four American Patriots, Alma Holman Burton (p. 71). 

Heroes of Progress in America, Charles Morris (p. 76). 



ENLARGING THE TERRITORY 

It is with the nation as with the factory: growth follows 
upon success. Soon the United States filled all the territory 
between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian mountains. 
Continually men were going West, and settlers had to push 
into the wilderness to find new homes. 

Every ship that went back to Europe carried stories of the 
new country, in which there was fertile land enough for all, 
and where every man was free to vote as he liked and worship 
God as he pleased. Every ship that came to America brought 
more workers across the Atlantic, seeking relief from poverty 
and oppression in the old countries. 

But the story of the pioneers is especially the story of 
Americans. The spirit that led these men to the new land 
of the West had many causes. Some of the early settlers 
had a general desire to do better, to own more land, and be 
prosperous. Great love of discovery and a keen wish to 
explore led others on. The rich soil and natural wealth of 
the great prairies and forests of the western lands induced 
many to cross the mountains. There was, too, always the 
love of adventure. 

Think what it must have been for a man to load all his 
household goods and his family into a big covered wagon, 
hitch to it the oxen or the horses, and set out on the trail. 
They had not even a road to follow; only a track which wound 
around through the passes between the mountains, and ran 
through the forest where enough trees had been cut to allow 
the wagon to pass. For days they would drive on in this way, 
making a campfire at night, not only to cook but to keep away 
the wild beasts. When they finally decided to stop, they had 
to chop down trees to build a log cabin, living in the wagon 
meanwhile. Before they could plant any crops for food they 

98 



ENLARGING THE TERRITORY 99 

had to clear the land of trees and brush and break up the 
tough sod. 

The march of these pioneers is one of the most thrilling 
stories in the history of man. This wave of people constantly 
pushed farther and farther into the wilderness, building 
homes, felling the forests, planting cotton and corn, building 
boats for use on the rivers and roads over the mountains. 
Along with this slow but never-ceasing march there was the 
need for providing a way by which this new territory might 
be made a part of the great organization known as the United 
States. 

To our stories of the explorers and the pioneers we must add 
the stories of the men who remained at Washington, men of 
vision, who saw that one day there would be many more than 
thirteen States, that the narrow strip of settled land along 
the Atlantic would be extended across a great continent. All 
were makers of our nation : the daring explorer, the humble 
farmer who sought a better home for his family, the road- 
builder, the statesman. The power and greatness of America 
rest not alone on the ones who became famous, but also on 
the unnamed thousands who took part in the march of the 
pioneers. 

We are to read now about a few of these men who secured 
more land and made it a part of our country. Some of this 
territory had to be won over from the British who held it. 
Some was taken from the Indians by the settlers who cleared 
the land and made their homes in it. Still other sections were 
bought from foreign countries. Thus in time the thirteen 
States grew to be forty-eight, and our country now stretches 
from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 



Topics for Review and Search 

1. From what European countries did most of the early settlers 
in America come? From what parts of Europe have the immi- 
grants of the last fifty years been? 

2. Name some wild animals the pioneers might have seen. 

3. Have you ever seen a log cabin? Find out how log cabins 
were finished inside. What kept out the rain and snow? 



100 FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 

4. Name some states where the settlers had to clear away the 
forests before they could make a home. Name some that were 
open prairie. 

5. Where did the Indians live? 



Suggested Supplementary Reading 

Stories of Pioneer Life, F. Bass. 

Famous Indian Chiefs I Have Known, O. O. Howard. 
Story of Captain Meriwether Lewis and Captain William Clark, 
N. F. Kingsley. 



GEORGE ROGERS CLARK (1752-1818) 



After the discovery of America by Columbus, many 
nations sent out explorers with authority to conquer this 
new world and take possession of it. The two who were 
strongest and who held the 
largest tracts were the English 
and the French. They both laid 
claim to the great Northwest 
Territory, which included what 
is now Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, 
Wisconsin, and Michigan. The 
English, finally victorious, took 
possession of this vast, unex- 
plored "Northwest," placed 
their soldiers in command of 
the forts which the French had 
built, and made the inhabitants 
swear allegiance to the King 
and England. 

When the EngUsh colonists sTAirt: 
determined to break away from 

the rule of their mother country and become inde- 
pendent, all this country was held by a few English in 
scattered forts. A brave young Virginian, George Rogers 
Clark, was the man who did most to win for the colonies 
this new territory. 

Clark was born November 19, 1752, on a farm in Vir- 
ginia. In school young Clark cared only for mathematics 

101 




OK ClOoiUiE ROGERS 
CLARK 



102 FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 

and surveying. After leaving school he worked on his 
father's farm until he was nineteen years of age, when he 
made his first surveying trip to the Northwest Territory. 
Clark's love of adventure and his interest in surveying 
caused him to wander far into the interior of this unex- 
plored country. 

CLARK AS AN INDIAN FIGHTER 

About this time a few brave men from various colonies 
were forcing their way into a beautiful region which had 

as yet few white 
settlers. This was 
what is now Ken- 
t u c k y, territory 
which Virginia 
claimed from a 
treaty she had made 
with the Indians. 
Clark decided to join 
other pioneers in 
this wilderness. He 

A WESTERN HOME OF CLARK'S TIME , j v •■ . 

was employed by his 
colony to survey the Kentucky lands and it was his inten- 
tion as soon as he could to make a home for himself there 
and help other newcomers to do the same. 

Clark became the leader of this little frontier settlement 
and his courageous character and kindly nature made 
him beloved by all. He insisted that certain laws of order 
be obeyed, and took command himself of the militia, the 
only protection against the hostile Indians. Although 
the land had been sold to the whites by one of the chiefs 
many of the savages were angry at the loss of their favor- 




GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 103 

ite hunting grounds and continually made raids on the 
pioneer settlements. 

Clark realized at length that nothing could be done 
without plenty of arms and ammunition and the support 
of the government of Virginia. At a meeting of the 
pioneers he was elected to represent his settlement in the 
Virginia Assembly, and the young man at once set out on 
foot to make this long and dangerous journey back to the 
capital of Virginia. 

When the stalwart young backwoodsman at length 
reached Williamsburg his clothing had been reduced to 
rags. But he made a call on the governor, Patrick Henry, 
who was so impressed with the stirring reports from the 
frontier settlements that he at once promised to help 
Clark secure the needed ammunition. It was no easy mat- 
ter to spare supplies at this time, for the Revolutionary 
war was going on and Virginia was straining every nerve 
to do her part in the great struggle. However, an effort 
was made to help the brave frontiersman because, as 
Clark had said, Kentucky was a part of Virginia and "a 
country which was not worth defending was not worth 
claiming." 

Shortly after, Clark was on his way to Fort Pitt, the 
present Pittsburgh, where the ammunition was stored. 
Here he secured his share and started to paddle down 
the Ohio river with it. It was an exciting trip; the In- 
dians learned what he was doing and began to chase him, 
but they were outwitted at every turn and, jubilant, the 
heroic traveler at length reached the Kentucky settle- 
ments, with the report that plenty of ammunition was 
buried on the bank of the Ohio awaiting carriers to bring 
it to the forts. 



104 



FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 



HIS STRUGGLE TO WIN THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY 

But no sooner had the frontiersmen with their new 
supply of ammunition been able to beat back the savages 
in Kentucky than a new trouble appeared. Indians from 
the Northwest Territory now began making hostile raids 
into Kentucky. These Indians themselves had no quarrel 
with the Kentuckians but were urged on by the English 
who were in control of the forts in the Northwest Terri- 




CAPTURK OF THE ENGLISH COMMANDER 



tory. Clark at once determined on a plan so bold as to be 
almost unbelievable — the capture of the most important 
forts, beginning with Kaskaskia. 

Having secured permission from the Virginia govern- 
ment, the twenty-six-year-old frontiersman set out with 
one hundred and eighty brave men on his daring enter- 
prise. It was a long, difficult, and dangerous trip — a four 
day's paddle down the Ohio River and then a march of one 
hundred and twenty miles across prairies, over bridgeless 



GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 105 

rivers tha't had to be forded, and through swamps and 
trackless forests. 

The little company arrived on the morning of July 4 
within three miles of the British fort at Kaskaskia. They 
remained all day in hiding and when nightfall came 
silently crossed the Kaskaskia River, surprised and cap- 
tured the British commander in bed, and then sauntered 
into a hall in the village, where the unsuspecting soldiers 
and townspeople were enjoying an evening of merry- 
making. 

Clark in a cool tone told the people to go on with their 
dance, but to remember that they were now dancing under 
the flag of Virginia instead of the flag of England. Within 
a few hours, without the firing of a single gun, fort, sol- 
diers, and inhabitants had been captured by a little band 
of untrained volunteers. 

Clark quickly won the sympathy of the inhabitants, who 
were French but had become subjects of King (George 
when the British won the Northwest Territory from 
the French. The priest of the village. Father Gibault, now 
offered to go to the other forts and persuade the villagers 
to submit without resistance. 

As soon as the Indians knew of Clark's arrival in Kas- 
kaskia they fled from the fort. When a few days later 
they heard that an American flag was floating over Forts 
Cahokia and Vincennes and some smaller forts, they 
quickly made peace with the young colonel, for whom they 
came to have a profound admiration. 

HIS DIFFICULT MARCH 

But Clark's troubles were not over. He had made 
conquests, but could these conquests be held? In the 
midst of the rejoicing over the successes came the news 



106 



POUNDERS OP OUR NATION 



that Colonel Henry Hamilton from Fort Detroit had recap- 
tured Vincennes. This was in January, 

Clark now felt desperate. More reports came that 
Hamilton was only waiting for better weather to retake 
Kaskaskia and Cahokia. "If I don't take Hamilton, he 
will take me," said the young colonel. "We must start at 
once for Vincennes." 

On the fourth of February one hundred and seventy 
men set out on what proved to be one of the most dreadful 



^;jfe«^>'-^S?=^^^^ 




THE MARCH TO VINCENNES 

marches in history. Heavy thaws and rains softened the 
ground so there was no path but one of mud and water. 
It was almost impossible to find at night a dry spot for 
camping. But Clark knew he must keep up the spirits of 
his men, and so the evenings were spent, when it was pos- 
sible, in feasting and games. 

In one place, they had to march for five miles across a 
flooded plain. Sometimes the men were in it up to their 
shoulders. But their courageous leader's spirits never 



GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 107 

flagged. He laughed and joked until the men caught his 
gayety and each one merrily encouraged the others. It 
was this ability to laugh which enabled the men to endure 
their hardships. 

In the party were a sergeant six feet two inches tall 
and a little drummer boy. To cheer his men Clark mounted 
the drummer on the shoulders of the big sergeant and 
these two, the little lad beating his drum vigorously, and 
the giant shouting "Forward," led the procession through 
the "drowned lands." 

Through this march of two hundred and thirty miles 
across what is now Illinois the travelers never found a 
really dry stretch of land; there was nothing but mud 
and slush and water day after day. But this was not all. 
The floods had driven all game away and for a stretch 
of two days the poor marchers were without food. 

For seventeen days they marched. When on the twenty- 
third of February the men arrived within sight of Vin- 
cennes some were ill from exposure and all were wet, cold, 
hungry, and miserable, but there was not one who was 
not loyal and cheerful. 

An inhabitant of Vincennes who was captured by 
Clark's men told the newcomers that General Hamilton 
had just strengthened the fort and that there were six 
hundred men in the town. Clark at once dispatched a 
message to the townspeople that Vincennes was going 
to be taken that night and that all who sided with the 
Americans were to keep within their homes. 

After dark the party marched on the quiet village. 
The inhabitants were dazed at Clark's appearance out of 
the swamps, but some slipped out to aid the newcomers 
with ammunition. The soldiers in the fort, never dream- 
ing of an attack, were holding a feast. Suddenly firing 



108 FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 

began. The surprise attack was successful, and the fort 
surrendered. 

The commander, Colonel Hamilton, was now aprisoner, 
and the Northwest Territory, out of which five states were 
made, was won for the Americans by the patriotism, cour- 
age, and daring of a young man of twenty-six. 

When the Revolutionary War was over Clark went back 
to Kentucky. Most of his life was spent in the new country 
he had won, and he lived amid the hardships of the pio- 
neers until he was an old man. He died in 1818. 

CLARK'S SERVICE TO THE NATION 

Clark began his pioneer work by helping the settlers 
in what is now Kentucky and Tennessee. They fought off 
the Indians and made that land safe for the white people. 
But his great service was the defeat of the British in the 
Northwest Territory. By his courage and resourcefulness 
and his own ability to endure hardships, he led his men 
on that terrible trip and accomplished what to most men 
would have seemed impossible — the capture of this great 
stretch of territory. This gave to the new nation prac- 
tically all the land east of the Mississippi river. 

Topics for Review and Search 

1. What kind of man was Clark ? How do you think he dressed ? 
Find out what you can about Daniel Boone. 

2. Have you read or heard of anything in the World War as 
hard for the soldiers as Clark's march through the water? 

3. What would you call Clark — soldier or pioneer? Give your 
reasons. 

Suggested Supplementary Reading 

Long Knives, the Story of How They Won the West, G. C. 
Eggleston. 

Pioneers of the Mississippi Valley, Charles A. McMurry (Chap- 
ter VIII). 

Stories of the Great West, Theodore Roosevelt (p. 55). 



THOMAS JEFFERSON (1743-1826) 



The Jeffersons were among the first families which 
settled in the new world, having come in the early part 
of the seventeenth century. Peter Jefferson, the father of 
Thomas, owned a large plantation along the Rivianna 
River in Virginia, called "Shadwell," 

Here Thomas Jefferson 
was born April 13, 1743. As 
a boy he roamed at will 
among the beautiful Vir- 
ginia hills, and he named his 
favorite, Monticello, mean- 
ing "little mountain." Books 
were a great delight to him, 
and at the age of five he had 
read many of the volumes in 
his father's library. 

The boy was also very fond 
of outdoor sports and spent 
much of his time in shoot- 
ing, horseback riding, and 

swimming. All this exercise made him strong and hardy. 
He grew fast and at the age of eighteen was over six 
feet tall. As a boy he was not attractive in appearance, 
but he grew better looking as a young man and even 
handsome as he became older. His hair was red, his eyes 
a hazel gray, his face kind and intelligent. 

109 




THOMAS JEFFERSON 



110 



FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 



When Jefferson was fourteen years old his father died 
very suddenly, but the family was left in comfortable cir- 
cumstances, and Thomas received the best education the 
schools in those days could give. 

THE STUDENT 

At seventeen years of age Jefferson entered William 
and Mary College. He was a diligent student, often work- 




/ -::5..^^«Jk^,> .ii 



MONTICELLO, JEFFERSON'S HOME 

ing fifteen hours a day ; his only exercise was a brisk run 
of a mile every evening. He went to bed at two in the 
morning and arose with the dawn. So much did he know 
that he came to be called the "Walking Encyclopedia." 
He became well versed in Latin and Greek, as well as 
French, Italian, and Spanish; he was also excellent in 
mathematics and history. Jefferson was not a good 
speaker, but this was made up for in his ability to write 
simply and powerfully. He graduated from college at 
the age of nineteen, having finished his course in half the 
required time. 
We are told tliat upon one occasion young Jefferson 



THOMAS JEFFERSON 111 

was stopping at a country inn. A stranger, not knowing 
who he was, entered into conversation with him. He 
spoke of one subject and then another, but Jefferson was 
equally intelligent on all of them. "Filled with wonder, 
he seized the first opportunity to inquire of his landlord 
who his guest was, saying that when he spoke of the law, 
he thought he was a lawyer ; then in turning the conversa- 
tion on medicine, he felt sure he was a physician ; but hav- 
ing touched on theology, he became convinced that he 
was a clergyman. *0h,' replied the landlord, *I thought 
you knew Thomas Jefferson.* " 

After completing his college course Jefferson took up 
in Williamsburg the study of law, and worked at this new 
subject with his characteristic energy. It was in Will- 
iamsburg that he met Patrick Henry, his elder by seven 
years, and already practicing law. The two became great 
friends, for the younger man had a profound admiration 
for the ideas of Henry. 

In Jefferson's last year of law study he listened, spell- 
bound, while his friend delivered his great speech closing 
with "I know not what course others may take; but as 
for me, give me liberty or give me death !" From that mo- 
ment Jefferson was on the side of his colony and all the 
colonies against England, and he decided to become a 
political leader in order to help his country. 

FARMER AND PATRIOT 

He succeeded rapidly as a lawyer and his name, young 
though he was, became one of the best known in Virginia. 
As soon as he could afford to do so he built a beautiful 
home on the little mountain he had so loved as a child, 
and named his estate "Monticello." 

Here during his leisure time he attended to the work 



112 



FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 



of his great plantation. Farming he loved as dearly as did 
George Washington. "Those who labor in the earth," he 
said, "are the chosen people of God ; the cultivators of the 
earth are the most vigorous, the most independent, the 
most virtuous; and they are tied to their country and 
wedded to its liberty." 

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

When Jefferson was only twenty-six years of age he 
was elected to the House of Burgesses, the ruling body in 




SIGNING OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 



the Virginia colony. During this and the years following 
there was no one who felt more bitterly about the mother 
country's injustice or spoke more boldly than Jefferson. 
When things at last grew so bad that the colonies found 
it necessary to call a meeting at Philadelphia, Thomas 
Jefferson was one of those chosen from Virginia. Some 
months later a committee was appointed to prepare a 



THOMAS JEFFERSON 113 

statement to be presented to the world, announcing that 
the American colonies no longer owed allegiance to the 
King of England, but were free and independent states. 

Thomas Jefferson, because of his ability as a writer, 
was selected to compose this article. No choice could 
have been better. And when his task was finished and 
had been passed on by the other members, there was pre- 
sented to the colonies, to England, to the whole world, in 
fact, the Declaration of Independence, one of the greatest 
documents in all history. This was the Fourth of July, 
1776; and from that day July 4 has been celebrated all 
over our country as the birthday of our nation. 

The second paragraph of the Declaration well shows the 
young Virginian's love of liberty and equality among all 
men : 

"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men 
are created equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator 
with certain unalienable rights; that among these are 
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." 

JEFFERSON IN DIFFERENT OFFICES 

Jefferson was now the idol of Virginia. His advice 
was asked upon every important question ; his name was 
upon every tongue. Upon his return from Philadelphia 
he was selected a member of the General Assembly of Vir- 
ginia. 

And soon after, he became governor of Virginia (1779) . 
This difficult position — for the war with England was 
not yet over — he held for two terms. 

When at last the great struggle was at an end Jefferson 
hoped, as Washington, too, had hoped, that he might retire 
to his country home. But his nation could not spare him. 
In 1784 he was appointed minister to France to take the 



114 FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 

place of Benjamin Franklin. He became a great favorite 
with the French and he in return loved France next to 
America. 

In 1789 Jefferson returned to America, and Washington 
chose' him as Secretary of State in his new cabinet. 

In 1793 Jefferson was able to go back to Monticello, and 
here he hoped to spend the rest of his life. But again his 
country needed him and just three years later he was 
made Vice-President. At the end of his term in this 
office he was elected President of the United States and 
held this office for two terms. 

When Jefferson was inaugurated he rode to the capitol 
on horseback and in his every-day clothes, hitched his 
horse to the post, ascended the steps, and quietly took the 
oath of office. As President he lived simply and dressed 
plainly. His thoughts were ever with the people and how 
he might act to benefit them. He did not care for fame, 
but only for the good of his country. 

THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE 

At the end of the Revolutionary War the United States 
owned all the land east of the Mississippi River except 
the peninsula of Florida. As settlers came to live in the 
country which Clark had had so large a part in winning, 
they made great use of the rivers. There were still no 
railroads, and there were not even highways over which 
loads could be hauled. So the furs and skins of the trap- 
pers and the lumber, pork, and cornmeal of the farmers 
were loaded on rough boats which were poled along the 
smaller rivers to the Mississippi and down it to the Gulf 
of Mexico. Here these products were taken by sailing 
boats and carried tc; points along the Atlantic Coast. 



THOMAS JEFFERSON 115 

Without the Mississippi, then, these settlers could have 
found no market for their produce. 

The eastern bank of the river belonged to the United 
States, but the western bank and the most of the land ex- 
tending to the Rocky Mountains were held by Spain. The 
Spanish officers at New Orleans objected to the constant 
trade the Americans were carrying on through that port. 
They had already caused the settlers considerable trouble 
when in 1803 Spain ceded all this territory to France. 
This alarmed the traders still more, for France was a 
strong nation and at the height of her power. If she 
closed the port of New Orleans, the young country in 
America might have great difficulty getting back its 
rights. It was necessary then to make some arrangement 
at once which would give the United States the right to 
use the Mississippi as a waterway. 

President Jefferson sent James Monroe to France to 
see if the United States could buy New Orleans and a part 
of Louisiana. France was willing to sell much more. So 
the United States bought the whole tract from the Missis- 
sippi to the Rocky Mountains, and from Canada to what is 
now Texas. This was larger than all the territory east 
of the Mississippi. The price paid was $15,000,000, or 
about two cents an acre. 

AT MONTICELLO 

At the end of his second term as President, Jefferson 
retired to private life at his beloved home, Monticello. 
Now that he was free from public duties, he undertook to 
carry out his lifelong ambition to found a university in 
his native state. He succeeded, and the University of Vir- 
ginia, with its handsome colonial buildings, its beautiful 
grounds, and its liberal course of study is the result. 



116 FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 

In the last years of his life Jefferson was called "The 
Sage of Monticello," in recognition of his wisdom. People 
of all classes came to see him and to talk with him. His 
mind remained clear and active to the last day of his life. 
He died on the Fourth of July, 1826, just fifty years after 
the publishing of the Declaration of Independence, which 
he had written. By his own wish, he was buried at Monti- 
cello. On his tombstone are these words, which he wrote : 

"Here is buried Thomas Jefferson, author of the Dec- 
laration of Independence, of the Statutes of Virginia for 
religious freedom, and Father of the University of Vir- 
ginia." 

AMERICA'S DEBT TO JEFFERSON 

Great as were his other services to our country, perhaps 
the greatest thing Jefferson did was to buy the vast 
tract of land called Louisiana. By this purchase — first 
planned to gain control of the Mississippi river — ^he 
more than doubled the area of the United States. He not 
only gained more than a million square miles of the most 
fertile land, but he made it certain that some day the 
United States of America would stretch to the Pacific 
Ocean. 

Topics for Review and Search 

1. Have you ever seen a copy of Thomas Jefferson's signature? 
Why is his handwriting interesting? 

2. How did Washington and Jefferson regard farming? 

3. For vi^hat two things will Jefferson always be remembered? 

4. What was the first college founded in America? When was 
it founded ? 

Suggested Supplementary Reading 

Historic Americans, Elbridge S. Brooks (p. 73). 
In the Days of Jefferson, Hezekiah Butterworth. 
Makers of America, Emma Lilian Dana (p. 95). 



ANDREW JACKSON (1767-1845) 

Long after the eastern part of North Carolina had 
become a flourishing colony, the western part remained 
a wilderness inhabited by the red man and the wild beasts 




IMMIGRANT WAGON 



of the forest. Ti'ees and thick underbrush covered the 
land where the savages built their rude lodges. 

But a great change took place, for one day there came 
a slowly moving train of covered wagons — immigrants 
from the states along the Atlantic Coast — the new home 
builders in the Valley of the Tennessee. Soon the sound 
of the ax was heard as the simple little homes rose be- 
neath the trees. After a time the meadows were rich with 
ripening corn and the valleys filled with grazing cattle. 

117 



118 FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 

Among these immigrants was a poor family that had 
come from Ireland in 1765. To this family belonged the 
hero of our story, Andrew Jackson, who was born March 
15, 1767, in Union County. The life of the pioneer was 
full of hardships, for it is not an easy task to tame a 
wilderness. Many of the settlers died from exposure and 
overwork, and one of these was the father of Andrew 
Jackson, who lived only two years after building his log 
cabin in the forest. Jackson said that his father "died 
like a hero in battle, fighting for his wife and babies; 
fighting an uphill battle against poverty and adversity 
such as no one in our time could comprehend." After the 
death of the father, the mother and her children went to 
live with her sister, who also had a frontier home. 

HIS YOUTH 

Would you expect a little boy born amid such a crude 
civilization to be a gentle, quiet lad? Or rather would 
you expect him to be an active fighter, on the defensive 
against the dangerous attacks of the Indians and ready 
to take part in the quarrels which were all too frequent 
among the frontiersmen where as yet there was not much 
law or order? Our surroundings have much to do in 
developing our characters. Andrew learned to fight be- 
cause he saw others fighting. The red-haired, blue-eyed, 
and freckle-faced lad grew tall and slender, and although 
not exceptionally strong, was active and wiry. He had 
a very quick temper and often quarreled with his boy 
companions. When the quarrels ended in fights, he usu- 
ally came out victor because of his quickness of move- 
ment. 

He had little chance for education. He tells us that 
his mother taught him to read before he was five years 



ANDREW JACKSON 119 

old. At seven he attended the small log-cabin school, 
where he studied geography, grammar, and arithmetic, 
besides improving his reading so much that he was chosen 
as "public reader" on special occasions. It was a matter 
of boyish pride that he was selected at the age of ten to 
read the Philadelphia paper to a group of thirty or forty 
pioneers. 

The Revolutionary War began when Jackson was a 
small boy. One day news came to Tennessee that the 
Americans had lost two battles. Such an impression did 
this make on the little frontier boy that he wrote a re- 
markable composition for one so young, the closing words 
of which were "the Americans alike in defeat and in vic- 
tory must be cool and steadfast, keep their powder dry, 
and, whenever defeated, just pick up their flints and try 
it again." 

When Andrew Jackson was thirteen years old he and 
his brother Robert joined a party of neighbors who set 
out to capture a body of British troops. This expedition 
proved a failure and the two boys were taken prisoners. 
Andrew received a severe blow, the scar of which he car- 
ried through life, because, on being ordered by an Eng- 
lish officer to clean his muddy boots he had retorted, "Sir, 
I'm not your slave, I am your prisoner; and, as such, I 
refuse to do the work of a slave." 

While in prison the brothers came down with smallpox. 
Hearing this their mother begged and secured their re- 
lease. Robert died within a few days, and before Andrew 
was fully recovered his mother fell a victim to the disease. 
The boy was now left absolutely alone in the world. 

For a short time after his mother's death Jackson lived 
in the home of a Mr. White, where he learned how to mend 
and make saddles. His spare moments were spent in 



120 



FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 



reading. He devoted most of his time to a law book, which 
he tells us he learned by heart. When he was but twenty 
he passed the legal examinations and began practicing. 

IN TENNESSEE 

It happened about this time that a friend of his going 
as judge to the frontier country of Tennessee persuaded 
Jackson to go with him. So delighted was the young law- 
yer with the new land that 
he determined to stay 
there. 

Life in the wilderness 
was a constant struggle, 
but Jackson enjoyed it. In 
a short time the energetic 
young lawyer became one 
of the chief men of the 
community. He was early 
recognized as a leader and 
a fighter, and was made 
commander of the Tennes- 
see frontier army which 
was to protect the settle- 
ment from Indian attacks. 
In Tennessee Jackson 
was a judge and then a 
member of Congress. The people loved him for his sense 
of justice and honesty, admired his ability as a lawyer, and 
praised him as an Indian fighter. Besides Indians, Jack- 
son had to fight the lawless adventurers who always flock 
to a new country. These men refused to obey any laws, 
and Jackson was the first Tennessee lawyer who was able 
to capture and bring them to trial. In court he often had 




ANDREW JACKSON 



ANDREW JACKSON 121 

to stand with his gun ready for action should they attempt 
resistance, and once a desperate hand-to-hand fight with 
one of the ruffians was necessary to make him submit to 
legal proceedings. 

Like Washington and Jefferson, Jackson loved farming 
and as soon as he could afford it he bought a fine planta- 
tion, "The Hermitage." Here Mr. and Mrs. Jackson lived 
happily and entertained hosts of visitors, rich and poor 
alike. Neither money nor position made any difference 
in Jackson's friendships, and this democratic quality 
characterized him throughout his lifetime. 

Jackson's spare moments were spent in reading books 
upon great campaigns in history, and in studying the mili- 
tary tactics used. In 1812 he led an army against the 
Indians, hordes of whom had begun making savage at- 
tacks on the settlers of Georgia and Tennessee. 

At this time he was suffering from a recent wound so 
that he carried his left arm in a sling. But, forgetting 
his own pain, he accepted the command and became the 
leader in the Indian war. He risked every danger and 
worked with untiring energy. Never was a campaign 
better managed; and. never did soldiers more willingly 
follow a leader, for all the distresses of war he bore equally 
with his soldiers. Nor would he give up until the trouble- 
some Indians had surrendered. "Old Hickory," as he was 
lovingly called by his men, who declared he was as tough 
as hickory, was now the hero of the day. 

THE HERO OF NEW ORLEANS 
At this time the United States and England were at war. 
Ever since the Revolution there had been trouble between 
England and the United States. England was continu- 
ally interfering with our commerce, and in 1812, 
after repeated protests, the United States declared war. 



122 FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 

Because of his success in fighting against the Indians, 
who were on the -side of the British, Jackson was made 
major general and given the military command of the 
Southern part of the United States. 

Some years before (1803), the territory of Louisiana 
had been purchased by the United States from the French. 
Louisiana was one of the several states formed out of 
this vast stretch of land. In many ways this was a 
foreign state, with its French, Spanish, and Negro 
population. It was even doubted whether this mixed 
population was friendly to the other states of the 
American union. The inhabitants lived an easy, care- 
less life of luxury, very different in character from the 
strenuous life on the frontier. New Orleans was its only 
city, while to the north, east, and west stretched a vast 
wilderness. And now in December, 1814, a large British 
force was making preparations to take the city. 

Jackson was the first to see the danger. Hastening to 
New Orleans he said : "But at the worst we must, can, 
and will defend this city and state to the bitter end." His 
spirit of enthusiasm spread throughout the army; every 
soldier and nearly every inhabitant was eager to obey his 
commands. He ordered the city to be stoutly fortified, 
and day by day his position grew stronger. 

It was a gigantic task to defend the city of New Orleans, 
since it had no less than six ways of approach, all of which 
had to be guarded, as no one knew from what direction the 
British would come. On December fifth a number of 
British vessels were reported to be oif Pensacola Harbor. 
On December ninth the fleet was actually sighted by an 
American lieutenant. Excitement was intense. But Gen- 
eral Jackson was well prepared. He had placed the city 
of New Orleans under martial law and had the inhabitants 



ANDREW JACKSON 123 

of the city completely under his control. Brass bands 
paraded the streets inspiring the people to fight for the 
defense of their homes. 

On December twenty-fifth the English had safely 
encamped for the night, planning for a quiet rest. Camp- 
fires lighted the horizon, for the night was cold. General 
Jackson stood in readiness waiting for the signal from 
the ship Carolina — the sign to be three rockets, one red, 
one white, one blue, fired at intervals of thirty seconds. 
At the sight of the red, white, and blue, the commander 
pronounced the words, ''Forward! Steady! Keep touch! 
Forward!" And the great American line commenced to 
move. Thus began on Christmas day of 1814 the long, 
gallant defense of New Orleans. Skirmishes or battles 
took place every day for two weeks with no decisive vic- 
tory, but all knew that the great deciding battle was to 
come, and each side was striving to the utmost in prepa- 
ration. The English little dreamed of the strength of 
Jackson's breastworks or army. The day of the eighth of 
January dawned with a dense fog, concealing the Amer- 
ican soldiers. Soon afterwards the fog began to lift, drift- 
ing toward the enemy. Two pistol shots were heard and 
the long line of British began to march toward New 
Orleans! On and on they came, until the Americans 
opened fire, repelling the British as if they had been 
shaken by an earthquake. It was a fierce battle. In 
twenty-five minutes it was over, with seven hundred 
English dead and twice as many wounded. Of the Amer- 
ican dead and wounded, there were fewer than a hundred. 

General Jackson forbade his men to cheer after the 
victory, and ordered his own army physicians to care for 
the British wounded. He himself visited many of them. 
It was with the greatest courtesy that he returned the 



124 FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 

sword to Major-General Keane, of the British army, upon 
learning that he was wounded and especially wished to 
keep his sword. Such kindness to the unfortunate and to 
the suffering characterized Jackson all his life. 

The hero of New Orleans bade farewell to his faithful 
soldiers with the following words : 

"Go, then, my brave companions, to your homes; to 
those tender connections and those blissful scenes which 
render life so dear; so full of honor and crowned with 
laurels that never fade. Continue, fellow soldiers, on your 
passage to your several destinations, to preserve that sub- 
ordination, that dignified and manly deportment which 
has so ennobled your character. Farewell, fellow soldiers." 

WINNING FLORIDA FOR THE UNITED STATES 

Jackson was to command in yet another war — an 
Indian war. Florida still belonged to Spain, and had re- 
mained a wilderness. It was made up of forests and 
swamps, which afforded secure hiding places for savages 
and criminals. Besides the Indians, the inhabitants were 
chiefly runaway slaves and outlaws. 

The Indians or bands of these outlaws would cross the 
border into southern Georgia and Alabama and take cattle 
or anything they wanted from the settlers. If these 
fought, the invaders would murder them. Such a terrible 
state of things could not go on, and in 1818 a force of 
fifteen hundred men under Jackson was sent to put a stop 
to these outrages. 

Jackson defeated the Seminole Indians, who had made 
the most trouble, and drove them back into Florida. But 
he was not satisfied with this, for he knew the Indians 
and the other wicked bands would again harry the set- 
tlers when the soldiers were gone. He therefore marched 



ANDREW JACKSON 125 

into Florida and defeated the outlaws on their own 
ground. He captured the principal Spanish cities, and 
the King of Spain was then glad to sell Florida to the 
United States. It became a territory and Jackson was 
made its first governor. 

THE PEOPLE'S PRESIDENT 

Jackson was now the chief figure in the nation. More 
and more the country came to admire him, and in 1828 
he was elected President of the United States. On the 
day of his inauguration crowds followed in a great pro- 
cession, some in carriages, others in carts, some on horse- 
back, and others walking. "Countrymen, farmers, gentle- 
men, mounted and dismounted, boys, women and children, 
colored and white," marched after him, for he was the 
people's president, as democratic now as he had been as 
a poor frontier lawyer in the backwoods of Tennessee. 

He was re-elected in 1832 and the prosperity of the 
country increased during his administrations. Jackson 
wished to be and was one of the people. It has been said 
of him ; "He was not proud, did not care for style, but 
only for plenty of what is sound, sturdy, and good." 

Jackson passed the last years of his life quietly at his 
home, "The Hermitage." He died June 8, 1845, beloved 
by his friends and admired even by his enemies. 

THE MAN 

Jackson was a fighter through and through, and he 
carried into the presidency the same methods he had used 
against the Indians. He rewarded his friends and pun- 
ished his enemies. If he believed a plan good for the 
country he carried it out in spite of opposition. Though 



126 FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION 

he made mistakes, every public act of his was done be- 
cause he believed it was for the welfare of his country. 

Daniel Webster said of him, "General Jackson is an 
honest and upright man. He does what he thinks is right, 
and does it with all his might." 

To his mother Jackson gave credit for all his success. 
In his later years, after he had become famous, he said 
of her : 

There never was a woman like her. She was as gentle as a 
dove and as brave as a lioness. Almost her last words to me when 
she was about to start to Charleston on that errand of mercy which 
cost her her life were, "Andrew, if I should not see you again, I 
wish you to remember and treasure up some things I have said to 
you. In this world you will have to make your own way. To do 
this you must have friends. You can make friends by being honest, 
and you can keep them by being steadfast. You must keep in mind 
that friends worth having will in the long run expect as much 
from you as they give you. To forget an obligation or to be 
ungrateful for a kindness is a base crime — not merely a fault or 
a sin, but an actual crime. Men guilty of it sooner or later must 
suffer the penalty. In personal conduct be always polite. No one 
will respect you more than you esteem yourself. Avoid quarrels as 
long as you can without yielding to imposition, but maintain your 
manhood always. Never wound the feelings of others. If ever you 
have to vindicate your feelings or defend your honor, do it calmly. 
If angry at first, wait until your wrath cools before you proceed." 

Her last words have been the law of my life. The memory of 
my mother was the only capital I had to start life with, and on 
that capital I have made my way. 

HIS SERVICE TO AMERICA 

Andrew Jackson was a rough frontiersman, quick of 
temper and prompt in action. He was always ready for 
a fight and owed much of his success to his rapid attacks 
before the enemy could prepare. It was these qualities 
which made him carry the Indian warfare across into 
Spanish Florida. The result of this was the willingness 



ANDREW JACKSON 127 

of the King of Spain to sell the peninsula to the United 
States. This was done and Florida became a part of our 
country in 1819. 

Topics for Review and Search 

1. What other presidents that you have read about were also 
generals? 

2. How did Jackson differ from Washington and Jefferson? 
Did he have the same kind of ancestors? Of education? 

3. Why did Florida belong to Spain? Were its boundaries just 
the same as those of the state today? 

Suggested Supplementary Reading 

Andrew Jackson, W. G. Brown. 

The Land Hero of 1812, C. C. Hotchkiss. 

Heroes of the Army in America, Charles Morris (p. 116). 



AMERICA AT WORK 

As a result of the freedom that Americans enjoy they 
have the chance to live more comfortably and to rise to a 
higher position. In many countries a man has no hope of 
getting out of the class in w^hich he is born. A peasant re- 
mains a peasant, an unskilled laborer is condemned to a life 
of poverty. In Russia the farmers v^^ho were subjects of 
the Czar could never be owners of land ; they had no tools — 
in many villages there was only a single plow; all that 
they could raise, except the food for their families — and 
in some cases there was not even enough of that — went to 
the rich noble who owned the land. 

In America it has not been so. There has been plenty 
of land for all, and even yet we have not begun to use the 
rich soil of America to the fullest extent. New villages 
were constantly being formed, these rapidly grew into cities, 
and there was every chance for the worker not only to get 
work at good pay, but to make a comfortable home. What is 
more, in a democracy there are no class distinctions — a section 
hand on a railroad has sometimes grown into the highest 
position. The laborer, if able and hard-working, may become 
an employer. A man's place in America depends on his own 
ability. 

The spirit of America helps to encourage men to climb 
to higher positions. America was founded by lovers of adven- 
ture and men who left Europe because they were tired of the 
narrow and oppressed lives they had to live there. The same 
spirit has been handed on to their children, and has been in- 
creased by the fact that each generation has brought new 
supplies of ambitious men from Europe. America means 
progress. 

As the settlers gradually moved west, there came to be 
people living in every part of the United States. But we can 

128 



AMERICA AT WORK 129 

scarcely realize how hard living conditions were at first. 
There were no steamboats on the rivers and lakes, and no 
trains crossed the wide plains. There was very little ma- 
chinery of any kind. The farmer walked behind his plow, and 
cut his hay with a scythe. His wife spun wool and wove 
cloth. She made the family clothing by hand. Kerosene 
lamps had not yet taken the place of candles, and gas and 
electric lights were not even thought of. 

When the wilderness was conquered and the first hard- 
ships of pioneer life overcome, men began to find easier 
and better ways of doing things. Steamships and rail- 
roads were built, wagon roads were improved. Machinery 
of all kinds gradually came into use. The cotton gin and 
machines for spinning and weaving made the manufac- 
ture of cloth quick and easy. Later the sewing machine 
shortened greatly the making of all kinds of clothing. Here 
once more we find how superior men have helped America 
at work. The saving in time and labor caused by the use 
of machinery enabled people to have better homes and fur- 
niture and many comforts which made living easier, life 
happier and more efficient. You will now read the stories 
of some of these inventions and of the men who gave them 
to America. 

Topics for Review and Search 

1. When did the Czar cease to rule Russia? How is it governed 
now? 

2. What do we mean when we call our country a democracy? 
Does a republic mean the same thing? 

3. What invention do you think it would be hardest to do with- 
out now? 

Suggested Supplementary Reading 

Stories of Indiistry, A. Chase and E. Clow. 

Stories of Invention Told by Inventors, Edward Everett Hale. 



ROBERT FULTON (1765-1815) 



When we look around today and notice all our modem 
means of travel, it is hard to realize that these did not 
always exist. Can you imagine how strange it would 

seem if we had no street 
cars, trains, automobiles, or 
steamboats? We of the 
twentieth century feel that 
we could not do without 
these things. 

One hundred years ago 
most of the travel from place 
to place was by water. The 
boats were rude and propelled 
by hand, but still this mode 
of travel, where it could be 
used, was far preferable to 
journeying overland through 
the new country. There were 
no good roads and there was constant danger from Indian 
attacks. 

One of the most valuable of all the inventions that 
helped travel was that of the steamboat. The man who 
made this great gift to the world was Robert Fulton. 
He was born in 1765 in Pennsylvania at a town called 
Little Britain, which is now known as Fulton, in his 
honor. Robert was only three years old when his father 

130 




ROBERT FULTON 



ROBERT FULTON 131 

died. His mother taught him to read and write, and 
when he was eight years old he went to a Quaker school at 
Lancaster. The schoolmaster thought Robert a dull pupil 
and often scolded him for not studying his lessons. To 
this the boy replied that his head was so full of his own 
thoughts that there was no room for the ideas he had to 
get out of books, 

YOUTHFUL INVENTIONS 

One day he was very late at school and when he was 
asked the reason he showed a lead pencil which he had 
just made by pounding a piece of lead into shape. This 
pencil proved better than any used in school, and before 
long all the pupils were supplied with Fulton's new 
pencils. His love for invention was greater than his Uking 
for books, and he often spent hours in the shops of me- 
chanics and inventors. 

On the third of July, 1778, a notice was sent around in 
Fulton's village, forbidding the people to light the streets 
on the Fourth of July because of the scarcity of candles. 
This was the second anniversary of the nation's birth- 
day, and the young patriot decided that there should be 
illumination. He sold some candles which he had been 
saving and bought gunpowder and pasteboard. To the 
great wonder of the townspeople he made a new kind 
of light which lit the village at night. These lights were 
called sky-rockets, and were shot up into the air. Fulton 
had been told that making such a thing was impossible, 
but he remarked, "There is nothing impossible." 

He was a favorite with the older men of the village who 
often took him on fishing trips. The boats which they 
used were very crude and were propelled by long poles. 
This was tiresome work and the boy began to think out 



132 BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 

better means of propelling. He took one of the flat river 
boats and attached on each side a paddle which was turned 
by a crank. To his own delight as well as that of the 
owner of the boat he found that it could thus be moved 
along with much greater ease than by poles. 

HIS INTEREST IN ART 

Fulton had early shown a love for art, and proved very 
clever with his brush. He took great delight in drawing 
cartoons of the British soldiers who were stationed near 
his home during the Revolutionary War. 

Benjamin West, a famous American artist, lived near 
Lancaster, and it was through his influence that Fulton 
decided to be an artist. He went to Philadelphia at seven- 
teen to study art, and was successful in his work. He 
painted portraits and landscapes and made drawings of 
machinery and buildings. During the next few years he 
earned enough to support himself and to buy a small 
farm for his mother. 

When he was twenty-one Fulton went to England to go 
on with his study of painting. But he had not been there 
long until he turned his attention from fine art to what 
we call practical art, or mechanics. 

THE FIRST SUBMARINE 

The first boat Fulton built was really a submarine 
though he called it "a diving boat." He had gained the 
interest of the French government and they gave him 
money for his experiments. The Nautilus, as he called 
the boat, was submerged for four hours and came up 
safely. Fulton and the three men who went down in it 
with him were greatly pleased with its success. 



ROBERT FULTON 133 

His next plan was to take a torpedo in the submarine, 
and to use this torpedo to destroy an enemy ship. He 
intended his torpedo boats to destroy all warships so that 
merchant vessels would be safe upon the seas. 

Other countries took alarm at this invention, and Great 
Britain tried to buy the idea of the torpedo boat. Fulton 
replied : 

"I will never let these inventions go, lest my own 
country at some time have need of them. Were you to 
grant mc $100,000 a year I would sacrifice it all to the 
safety and indepjendenee of my country," 

THE STEAMBOAT 

While he was in England Fulton had seen coal barges 
being towed by horses which walked along the banks of 
the canals. This was easier for the horses than carrying 
the coal on their backs, but it was very slow. He saw 
the steam engines built by Watt, the great English in- 
ventor, and he formed a plan. He decided to try building 
a large boat, with a paddle wheel on each side. This was 
the same idea he had carried out in his little fishing boat. 
But instead of a boy to turn a crank, he would have a 
steam engine furnish power for these wheels. 

From this time on all his attention was given to de- 
veloping a steamboat. While in Paris he met Robert R. 
Livingstone, United States Minister to France. The two 
men became partners, Fulton furnishing the mechanical 
ideas, and Livingstone the money. 

In 1803 a boat was built on the Seine River. Fulton had 
planned to invite his friends to witness its first trip, but 
the boat sank during the night. The engines had been too 
heavy for the wooden craft and a severe storm sent it 



134 



BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 



to the bottom of the river. For hours Fulton stood in the 
icy water trying to recover the machinery. This he suc- 
ceeded in doing, but a new boat -had to be built. He com- 
pleted it in a few months, and this time his efforts were 
crowned with success. Fulton then decided to build a 
similar boat on the Hudson River, and he returned to the 
United States. 

THE CLERMONT 

He worked for a long time, being obliged to borrow 
money and meeting with opposition on every hand. Even 

his friends did not 
believe that a boat 
could be propelled 
by a steam engine. 
They called his 
boat, which he had 
named the Cler- 
mont, Fulton's Fol- 
ly, because they 
thought he was 
wasting his time, 
work, and money. 
But in August, 
1807, the Clermont steamed out of New York and 
up the Hudson to Albany. The trip took thirty-two 
hours. A sailboat had made it in sixteen hours, but 
regularly it took much longer, and if the winds were un- 
favorable the sailboat might be a week on the way. After 
this trip Robert Fulton was considered one of the inven- 
tive geniuses of the world. 

The successful voyage of the Clermont proved that a 
valuable invention had been given to the world. Up to 




THE CLERMONT 



ROBERT FULTON 135 

that time there was not operating anywhere on the earth 
any mode of conveyance faster than the running horse. 
Much time was wasted in slow and tiresome travel by 
means of the rude boats on the lakes and rivers. It took 
long weeks and sometimes months to cross the Atlantic 
Ocean. Journeying was not the pleasure that it is today 
when one can go from New York to England in five days. 
The great ocean steamships, some of them one thousand 
feet in length and able to accommodate thousands of 
passengers, are an outgrowth of Robert Fulton's Cler- 
mont. 

Eight years after Fulton had made his famous voy- 
age from New York to Albany he died suddenly, at the 
age of only fifty. His death was regarded as a great loss 
to the country and he was deeply mourned. 

AMERICA'S DEBT TO FULTON 

The steamboats on the Hudson were soon followed 
by steamers on all the lakes and rivers of the United 
States. Not only could people travel faster and more com- 
fortably but all sorts of produce could be quickly and 
easily transported. To this day, even with all our rail- 
road facilities, where it is possible to ship freight by 
water it is cheaper to do so than to send it by land on 
the train. 

Like all great inventors Fulton believed in his idea 
and carried it through to success. He had not only me- 
chanical genius but also tireless energy and great per- 
severance. His patriotism was as great as his ability. 
This is shown by his attitude regarding the submarine 
and by his building the Clermont on the Hudson instead 
of on the Seine. To him and to the fast steamboat we owe 



136 BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 

the commerce among the different states of our country, 
and between the United States and foreign countries. 

Topics for Review and Search 

1. Find out how lead pencils are made now. Do they contain 
lead? 

2. How many years passed between the submerging of the 
Nautilus and the building of a modern successful submarine? 

3. Have you over seen the engines of a modern steamboat? 
If so, do they look simple or complicated? 

4. What does an inventor need besides ideas and imagination? 

. Suggested Supplementary Reading 

Life of Robert Fulton and a History of Steam Navigation, T. W. 
Knox. 
Four American Inventors, Frances M. Perry (p. 11). 
Robert Fulton, Alice Crary Sutcliffe. 



ELI WHITNEY (1765-1825) 



Eli Whitney was born in Massachusetts, December 8, 
1765. His father made chairs and cart wheels for all the 
neighbors. The boy took great delight in his father's kit 
of tools. As soon as he 
could manage the tools, 
he was continually mak- 
ing something. After 
school hours he could be 
found hammering, saw- 
ing, or chiseling in his 
father's shop. 

Eli was considered a 
dull pupil in school except 
in mathematics. He was 
far more interested in 
the workshop. Once 
when Eli was twelve 
years old his father went 
away from home and on 
his return asked how his 
boys had spent their time. He was strict with his children 
and believed that all should work. When he was told that 
Eli had been making a fiddle he was greatly disappointed 
and scolded the boy. But Eli's little violin was praised by 
the neighbors and he was asked to repair many a violin. 

HIS INTEREST IN MACHINERY 
One day while the family was at church Eli became 
interested in his father's watch. Curiosity got the better 

137 




ELI WHITNEY 



138 BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 

of him, and, not thinking of the consequences, he took 
the watch apart. When he realized what he had done he 
was frightened, but he made up his mind to put it to- 
gether again. He was so successful that his father did 
not discover the act, and listened amazed when Eli told 
him about it many years later. His step-mother was very 
proud of some fine knives which she owned. Eli re- 
marked : "I could make as good ones if I had the tools, 
and I could make the necessary tools if I had a few tools 
to make them with !" Later one of the knives was broken, 
and the boy was able to repair it. 

While still a boy, Whitney devised a way of making 
nails by machinery. Nails had heretofore been made by 
hand and the process was very slow. He also made bon- 
net pins and walking sticks after he had done a day's work 
on the farm. 

With money earned in this way and by teaching, he paid 
his way at Yale College. There he was most interested in 
mathematics and mechanics. The college faculty found 
him a very likable as well as a most useful student. One 
day a part of the apparatus in the laboratory refused to 
work. The teacher said: "I fear it must go abroad for 
repairs." "I think that I can mend it," suggested Whit- 
ney. And he did, when there was probably no other man 
in the United States who could have repaired it. 

HE GOES TO GEORGIA 

After his graduation from college, Whitney went to 
Savannah, Georgia, where he planned to teach, and to 
study law in his spare time. When he arrived in Savannah 
he learned that the position which had been offered him 
had been given to some one else. 

He soon became acquainted with the widow of General 



ELI WHITNEY 139 

Nathaniel Greene, who had been an important commander 
in the Revolutionary War. She was living on a large plan- 
tation and she invited Whitney to make his home there. 
He accepted and began his law studies. 

But Whitney's genius was mechanical, and he preferred 
inventing toys for the children and making little house- 
hold conveniences to studying law. Mrs. Greene was de- 
lighted when he made her an embroidery frame which 
was far better than the one she had bought. 

One day Mrs. Greene had as guests a number of south- 
ern gentlemen, who were discussing agriculture. They 
agreed that the land in the south was better adapted to 
raising cotton than anything else. At the same time, the 
growers made little money from the cotton because long 
hours of labor were needed to separate the seeds of the 
cotton from the fiber, and this had to be done before the 
cotton could be used. They spoke of the attempts that 
had been made to build a machine that would do this work. 

"Let us ask Mr. Whitney about that," suggested Mrs. 
Greene. "He can make anything." 

THE COTTON GIN 

Whitney was interested at once, and the next day he 
went to work on the problem. He made a workshop and 
there worked and planned. Many of the tools he needed 
could not be bought, so he first made them. He decided 
to use fine wires in his machine, and he had to make this 
wire because there was none in Savannah. 

For weeks and months Whitney planned and worked. 
Sometimes he was much disappointed at the results of 
his efforts, but he would not give up. He believed a 
machine could be made which would separate the cotton 
from its seed, and he wanted to make it. At last he 




140 BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 

finished a rude model which worked. His cotton gin (a 
shortened form of engine) had a row of wire teeth which 
tore the cotton from the seed. The fiber was then drawn 
through a network of fine wires and the seed left un- 
harmed. 

Whitney now wished to manufacture the machines in 
large numbers. In order to have money to start factories 

he went into partnership 
with a Mr. Miller. This 
man was not only wealthy 
but he was a friend of 
Whitney and an enthusi- 
astic believer in his inven- 
tion. 

The news that Whitney 
had actually made a cotton 
gin which worked spread 
rapidly. Cotton growers were constantly coming and 
asking to see it. Whitney realized that if he showed 
his machine to every one and explained its workings, 
others would make machines like it and sell them. 
If he were to give up his plan of being a lawyer and 
become a manufacturer he must patent his gin so he 
could make some money out of it. To do this it was neces- 
sary to send a small machine (called a model) to the 
patent office in Washington. The government would then 
give Whitney the sole right to make machines after this 
model. 

He therefore refused to show his gin until it was pat- 
ented, but one night his shop was entered and the machine 
stolen. Before Whitney could make another model and 
secure his patent, several machines had been made by 
others. All these were, of course, copied from Whitney's. 



ELI WHITNEY'S COTTON GIN 



ELI WHITNEY 141 

HIS LEGAL BATTLES 

Whitney fought a long battle in the courts of law for 
his rights. No one denied that he was the inventor of 
the gin, but dishonest men were eager to make money out 
of it. As soon as the cotton growers saw what the ma- 
chine would do they were anxious to get gins and would 
buy them from anybody. 

While Whitney was waiting for his patent he went north 
and began making arrangements to manufacture gins in 
Connecticut. At this time he received an urgent letter 
from his partner, Mr. Miller, saying : 

Do not let a deficiency of money — do not let anything — ^hinder 
the speedy construction of the gins. The people of the country are 
almost running mad for them. When the present crop is harvested 
there will be a real property of at least $50,000— yes, $100,000— 
lying useless, unless we can enable the holders to bring it to market. 
Pray remember that we must have from fifty to one hundred cotton- 
gins between this October, 1794, and next fall if there are any 
workmen in New England or the middle states to make them. 

Thus in the midst of legal disputes and under financial 
difficulties, Whitney took up the manufacture of cotton- 
gins for the southern market. He had to make many trips 
back and forth to the South to prove his right to the in- 
vention. Then came the discouraging news that the Pat- 
ent Office in Washington had been destroyed by fire and 
Whitney's original models lost. 

Many more months were now spent in the courts to 
prevent competitors from making the machine. At length 
Whitney was given the exclusive right to manufacture 
cotton-gins. But this did not end his troubles, for the Gov- 
ernor of Georgia took up the dispute and it dragged on 
for many years. While the demand for more machines 
was becoming greater in the South, Whitney was making 
but little money from his invention. The worst disaster 



142 BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 

of all came in the destruction by fire of his entire manu- 
facturing establishment. This grave misfortune not only- 
reduced the unhappy inventor to poverty but threw him 
heavily in debt. 

Pressed on all sides for money, the inventor consented 
to sell his patent rights to the cotton-gin. It was then 
the eighth year of his invention and he had received 
almost nothing from it. Prosperity had increased in the 
South every year and Whitney had been responsible for 
the added wealth. It was finally agreed by the states that 
Whitney should receive $50,000 for his patent, provided he 
gave up all right to it. Whitney agreed to his part of the 
contract, but many of the states offered excuses and tried 
to recall their action. A long and annoying discussion 
followed, in which Whitney finally won a hard-fought vic- 
tory, receiving from all the states about $90,000. He said : 

I was seized and dragged to prison without being allowed to 
be heard in answer to the charge alleged against me, and, indeed, 
without the exhibition of any specific charge, in direct violation of 
the common right of every citizen of a free government. And when 
I consider that this cruel persecution is inflicted by the very per- 
sons who are enjoying these great benefits and expressly for the 
purpose of preventing my ever deriving the least advantage from 
my own labors, the acuteness of my feelings is altogether inex- 
pressible. 

THE UNITED STATES ARMORY 

After he had given up his right to this invention, he 
turned his attention to the making of fire-arms for the 
government. Before he died, in 1825, he had made a for- 
tune out of this business. His factory was conducted 
upon a model plan and each workman had definite work 
to do. Whitney greatly extended his service to his coun- 
try by making possible a better organized means of na- 



ELI WHITNEY 143 

tional defense. The Secretary of the Treasury, Oliver 
Wolcott, said : 

I venture to assure you that the present improved state of our. 
manufacturers is greatly indebted to his skill and exertions; that 
though a practical mechanic, he is also a gentleman of liberal 
education, a man of science, industry, and integrity, and that his 
inventions and labors have been as useful to this country as those 
of any other individual. 

ELI WHITNEY, THE MAN 

Perseverance, patience, and cheerfulness — these were 
the qualities which made it possible for Whitney to suc- 
ceed, in spite of the many difficulties he met from day to 
day. He inspired confidence in his many friends because 
of his determination to win. He was never known to start 
any invention without finishing it. He was loyally de- 
voted to everything that he did, often working many 
hours over time to finish the day's duties. Through all 
his trying law suits, he was never known to lose his 
patience or to be discourteous to his opponents. 

OUR NATION'S DEBT TO WHITNEY 

The invention of the cotton gin affected the trade of 
the whole world, brought prosperity to the South, gave 
the planter a definite work, and placed us among the great 
agricultural nations of the world. 

The gin made a wonderful difference in preparing the 
cotton. When the seed was picked out by hand a man 
could separate only five or six pounds in a day. With 
Whitney's machine one man could remove the seed from 
a thousand pounds in the same time. 

The planters began raising more cotton and increased 
the yield every year. The price of cotton cloth was soon 
lower, which was a help to the poor people. At the same 



144 BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 

time the manufacture of cotton goods and the exporting 
of cotton cloth and bales of cotton increased greatly. The 
manufactures and commerce of our country were thus 
directly affected by this invention. 

Ten years before Whitney's invention, a single bag of 
cotton was carried to England on an American ship. 
When the cotton was unloaded, many gathered around 
the bag, eager to see the cotton, but unable to believe that 
it had been grown in America. 

In 1793, when the gin was invented, only ten thousand 
bales of cotton were raised in the whole South. After one 
hundred and twenty-five years the cotton crop amounted 
to more than twelve million bales. Ships carry our cotton 
and cotton goods to every country on the globe. The 
wealth of the South depends on the cotton crop. Whether 
a planter has one acre or a thousand, he can raise cotton 
and sell it. The prosperity of America is due more to its 
corn and its cotton than to any of its other crops. 

Much of this we owe to the ingenuity, patience, and per- 
severance of one man — Eli Whitney. "Every cotton gar- 
ment bears the impress of his genius, and the ships that 
transported it across the waters were the heralds of his 
fame." 

Topics for Review and Search 

1. Were there factories in Eli Whitney's time? Would it be 
possible now for each family to make all the different things it 
needs and uses? 

2. Before the invention of the cotton gin w^as cotton used more 
than wool? 

3. Do you think Whitney was an interesting man to know? 
Why? 

Suggested Supplementary Reading 

Historic Americans, Elbridge S. Brooks (p. 218). 
Heroes of Progress in America, Charles Morris (p. 91). 
Four American Inventors, Frances M. Perry (p. 73). 



CYRUS HALL McCORMICK (1809-1884) 

Upon a prosperous little farm in Rockbridge County, 
Virginia, Cyrus McCormick was born in February, 1809. 
The home was humble, but the family all worked hard and 
prospered. 

The McCormick homestead was a busy place, for those 
were the days of home-made articles. A family had to 




THE McCORMICK HOME 



invent its own conveniences or go without them. Fac- 
tories scarcely existed when Cyrus was a little boy. His 
father had designed and manufactured most of their fur- 
niture. His mother not only cut and sewed the children's 
clothes, but she first spun the wool and wove the cloth. 
Mittens, caps, shoes, and stockings were all made in this 

145 



146 BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 

busy household. Candles were molded, carpets were 
woven, soap was manufactured, hams were cured, and 
many other things were made which we now buy ready 
to use. 

The country schools at this time were poor and Cyrus 
had little chance for education. He is said to have been 
deeply interested in his books, especially in geography. 
One day, when he was about fifteen, he surprised his 
teacher by bringing to school a map he had made. It 
showed the two hemispheres side by side. These were 
carefully drawn with ink on the paper, which was pasted 
upon cloth, with rollers at the top and bottom. "This 
is beyond me," said the teacher, and Cyrus's map made 
him famous in the neighborhood. 

As soon as he was old enough he helped his father with 
the farm work. One of the hardest tasks in those days 
was cutting the wheat. There were no machines to do 
this work. The men and boys had to go into the fields 
with scythes and cradles and mow the grain by hand. 
They then collected it in bundles and tied these with cords. 
Often some of the grain spoiled, because the cutting 
process was so slow. 

THE FIRST REAPER 

Cyrus's father had tried for many years to invent a ma- 
chine that would cut the grain and tie it into bundles. 
As the boy swung his cradle through the long, hot summer 
days he thought about inventing a reaper himself. Tired 
as he was at the end of his day's work he would spend 
his evenings figuring and planning such a machine. 

If only machinery could be made to do the hard work 
that was wearing out the farmers — this became the 
controlhng idea of his young mind. From the time that 



CYRUS HALL McCORMICK 



147 



he was a little child he had watched his father trying to 
make a reaper, and "reaper" was one of the first words 
Cyrus had learned. Now he studied the machine his 
father had made to see why it would not do the work. 
He knew how to use tools, to make the wooden parts. He 
had often helped his father in the blacksmith shop which 
stood on their farm, so he 
knew how to work in 
iron, too. When he had 
made his plans carefully, 
he set to work to make a 
reaper of his own. 

By the summer of 1831 
he had built a reaper, 
every part of which he 
had made himself. One 
hot July day the youth of 
twenty-two rode into the 
harvest field on a queer- 
looking machine slowly drawn by two horses. All the 
family followed as the reaper advanced to the yellow grain 
which stood shining in the sunlight. Click, cHck, click 
went the knives, and as the machine advanced, it left a 
row of bundles behind it. 

McCormick knew now that his invention was a success, 
but he had to prove it to others. Soon after this he ar- 
ranged to show his reaper at work in a field near Lexing- 
ton. When the day came, farmers were gathered from all 
around. Every fence post was occupied by a boy and 
every one was eager to see. 

When the machine came in sight, a crowd was following 
it. McCormick drove into the field which had been 
selected. It was very hilly and therefore the machine 




CRADLE, FORMERLY USED FOR 
CUTTING WHEAT 



148 



BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 



began to shake and jerk and tear the wheat badly. Laugh- 
ter and shouts of ridicule arose from the crowd. "It's a 
humbug," "Give me the old scythe yet," were some of 
the things McCormick heard. 

The owner of the field rode up and called to him : "Here, 
this won't do. Stop your horses. You are spoiling my 
wheat." 




MCCORMICK'S FIRST REAPER 
(From an old print) 

The young man stopped, but his disappointment 
changed to joy when he was invited by the owner of the 
next field to try his machine there. The ground was level, 
and within a few hours the new reaper had cut and bound 
six acres of wheat. 



MANUFACTURING REAPERS 

McCormick at once began to manufacture reapers in a 
shop on his father's farm. There was little advertising 
in those days, and it was several years before many farm- 
ers learned about the harvester, as it was called. When 



CYRUS HALL McCORMICK 



149 



orders began to come in, McCormick found another diffi- 
culty. It was to the west of Virginia, in the wide valley 
of the Mississippi, that there was the greatest need for 
reapers. There was no rail- 
road by which they could 
be shipped. To send them 
by water was a long and 
slow way. They had first 
to be hauled in wagons 
overland; they then went 
by canal to Richmond, 
from there to New Orleans 
on the ocean, and finally up 
the Mississippi and Ohio 
rivers to Cincinnati. 

McCormick decided he 
must manufacture the 
reapers nearer where they 
would be used. He went 
first to Cincinnati, but 
later decided on Chicago, 
and built a factory there in 1846. Ever since then 
McCormick harvesters have been made and they are now 
shipped all over the world. 




CYRUS H. McCORMICK 



THE REAPER ABROAD 



In a few years the name of Cyrus Hall McCormick was 
known to many nations. He visited Europe and was 
everywhere entertained with honor. He was elected a 
member of the French Academy of Science because, as 
was said, "He has done more for the cause of agriculture 
than any other living man." 



150 



BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 



In 1898 twenty thousand reapers were shipped to Eng- 
land in a fleet of twelve ships. Today the reaper is the 
machine exported in greatest numbers, and more reapers 
are manufactured in the United States than in any other 
country in the world. 



McGORMICK'S SERVICE TO OUR COUNTRY 

With its final improvements one reaper can do the 
work of ten men. Thus it has not only lightened the 




A MODERN REAPER 

farmer's labor, but made it possible for him to cultivate 
much larger fields of grain. This has given the farmer 
better pay for his labor and increased the wealth of our 
land. 

Even more important is the additional food which im- 
proved farm machinery has enabled the farmer to grow. 
The United States raises wheat not only for its own peo- 
ple, but exports millions of bushels every year. In the 
World War and the time immediately following it, our 



CYRUS HALL McCORMICK 151 

country fed the starving nations of Europe. No one can 
tell how many thousands of lives were saved by bread 
made from wheat cut by the McCormick reaper. 

Topics for Review and Search 

1. Make a list of articles of everyday use which were made at 
home a hundred years ago and are now bought. 

2. Name some machines which have made the work of the house- 
hold easier. 

3. Do you think McCormick, Jackson, and some of the other 
men you have read about would have liked more schooling? 

Suggested Supplementary Reading 

The Romance of the Reaper, Herbert Casson. 

Heroes of Progress in America, Charles Morris (p. 166). 



JAMES JEROME HILL (r838-1916) 

The cotton gin of Eli Whitney soon caused the amount 
of cotton raised to increase greatly, and this made clothing 
cheaper and more plentiful. The reaper invented by Cyrus 
H. McCormick enabled the farmers to grow a much greater 
amount of wheat, and so give every one enough white 
bread. In the East there were some short lines of rail- 
road, but elsewhere there was still no way to send clothing 
or machinery or food overland except the slow method of 
hauling it in wagons drawn by horses. The next man we 
are to read about built railroads to carry these inventions 
and products across the country. 

James J. Hill was born in the province of Ontario in 
Canada, September 16, 1838. His father was a farmer 
and James's boyhood was spent in the country and in a 
small village. 

At the age of five he started to school, walking two and 
a half miles, even on the coldest winter mornings. He had 
a good teacher and he was a faithful pupil. He really 
preferred reading to play, and he was fortunate in having 
a few good books. Newspapers and books were rare in 
that new country, where people had little time for reading, 
but James's father owned the works of Shakespeare, the 
poems of Burns, a Bible, and a dictionary. 

At ten the boy entered the Rockwood Academy, where 
he studied English literature, Latin, Greek, algebra, and 
geometry. At thirteen he read a life of Napoleon, which 
influenced him greatly. He realized the power of perse- 

152 



JAMES JEROME HILL 153 

verance and self-confidence. He made up his mind that 
success was possible to any one if he had the will to carry 
his plans through. 

He was fond of outdoor exercise and sports, especially 
hunting and fishing. He continued to hunt and fish in the 
vacations all through his busy life, and he never lost his 
pleasure in these sports. 

When James was fourteen the death of his father com- 
pelled him to leave school and he became a clerk in a vil- 
lage store. At the end of his first four weeks of work he 
received his pay. 

"I never felt so rich," he said ; "I never expect to feel 
so rich again in my life, as when I looked at those four 
dollars and when I handed them over to my mother." 

He worked faithfully and his employer, an elderly 
Scotchman who was not given to praise, said to him : 

"If ye keep on ye'll make your way in the world." 

THE YOUTH GOES WEST 

At seventeen he left home and started west, intending 
to go at least as far as the Pacific Coast. He even thought 
of becoming a sailor and visiting the countries of the 
Orient. To cross the country in those days was a great 
undertaking. The only railroads were a few short lines 
in the East. Where it was not possible to go by boat, 
men had to ride on horseback or in the covered wagons 
called prairie schooners. There were no good wagon 
roads and on such a journey it took weeks to go from 
New England to the Mississippi. Chicago was only a 
village, and west of the Mississippi lay an unknown wil- 
derness. 

But the youth set out with great hopes and high am- 
bitions. He had gone only as far as Syracuse, New York, 



154 



BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 



when the few dollars he had started with were used up, 
and he found himself penniless. But this was not a great 
difficulty to a strong young man who had set out to see 
the world. He went to work with a will and earned the 

money for his jour- 
ney as he went west. 
Hill reached St. 
Paul in July, 1856, 
expecting to join a 
party of hunters and 
go with them to the 
Pacific Coast. To his 
disappointment he 
found when he ar- 
rived that the last 
party had left and 
there would not be 
another expedition 
west until the follow- 
ing spring. 

He went to work in 
St. Paul, which was 
not much more than 
a trading post. But 
it was an important settlement for several reasons. It was 
an outpost in the great Northwest, and hither traders 
from long distances brought their valuable pelts and furs. 
It was on the Mississippi, and already a line of steamboats 
was running daily between this town and Galena, 111. New 
settlers were constantly coming to Minnesota, and this 
territory hoped soon to be admitted as a state. 

All this meant progress and was of great interest to 
the bright young man. He became a clerk in the office of 




JAMB:S JEROME HILL, 



JAMES JEROME HILL 



155 



the steamboat company and throughout the remainder of 
his life his chief interest was in transportation. 

His leisure time was spent mostly in reading and he 
acquired a fund of general information. The story is told 
that he once offered to sit up at night with a sick friend. 
He read a book on engineering steadily all night long. 
When asked if he intended to be an engineer Hill said: 




MODEL OF AN EARLY RAILROAD TRAIN 



"I do not know. You see, I am only a young man yet, 
and a knowledge of engineering may prove useful some 
day." 

He not only read a great deal but he remembered what 
he read, storing in his mind information which would be 
useful in the future. He understood the machinery of the 
steamboat; he learned business methods; he studied the 
materials and uses of different coals; and he informed 
himself upon the best methods of farming. 

With all his study he loved fun, and made good friends 
who liked his jokes and appreciated his kindness and 
generosity. 

When the news of the outbreak of the Civil War reached 
the far Northwest, Hill was iired with patriotism and set 
to woik to raise a company of cavalry. He also joined 
the "Pioneer Guards" — a company of volunteers^and 
hoped to belong to the First Minnesota Regiment. In this 



156 BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 

he was disappointed because he could not pass the physi- 
cal examination. While still a boy he had lost the sight 
of one eye in an accident, and now this prevented his en- 
tering the army. He had to content himself with doing 
all he could for the soldiers. 

TRAVEL IN THE NORTHWEST 

He succeeded as a clerk and advanced in business, al- 
ways planning for better transportation for the great 
Northwest. By 1865 he was in business for himself and 
in 1871 he had established a steamboat line on the Red 
River as far north as Winnipeg. He made his first trip 
to Winnipeg overland through the deep snow with a dog 
team. He took many-such journeys, one of which he wrote 
about as follows : 

I remember my first trip out of North Dakota. I had slept at 
Tongue River in the northern part of the state, and it was a gray, 
misty morning. I was on horseback and had an Indian guide, and 
he had a cart and an extra pony. I know that I fell asleep on 
horseback, and the horse awoke me by snorting. I looked ahead, 
and in the fog, sitting on a knoll, was a wolf. I thought that wolf 
was bigger than a horse. He got up, looked over his shoulder at 
me, walked away, and I haven't seen him since. 

Down near Georgetown I was crossing on ice which looked as 
though it might be all right. All of a sudden it gave way, and 
as I didn't know how deep the water was, I had occasion to think 
of all the good things and all the bad things I had ever done 
between the time I started down and when I struck ground, with 
the water reaching to my vest pockets. It was hard work getting 
back to the ice again, but at last I got on a small pile of earth, 
heaped up by a beaver when the water was not so high, and by that 
help was able to get up again and continue to Georgetown. 

Hill now owned the only system of freight and passen- 
ger traflftc between St. Paul and Winnipeg, but the method 
was slow. For some distance people had to travel by 



JAMES JEROME HILL 157 

big sleds or on horseback, while packages were hauled 
by ox team. The traffic was fast outgrowing this method 
of transportation, and two rival railroads were planning 
to extend their lines clear up into Canada. 

THE RAILROAD KING 

Then Hill's opportunity came. With his partners, Kitt- 
son and Smith, he bought the small railroad known as the 
St. Paul and Pacific. This purchase took every dollar the 
firm had, and was a great risk. The other two men were 
doubtful and would never have consented to the under- 
taking if Hill had not persuaded them by his enthusiasm. 

His knowledge of the Red River country, which he had 
explored years before with his team of dogs, and his ex- 
perience in transportation, were needed now. He used 
them so well that in a few months he and his partners 
were making money out of their railroad. 

But Hill had an ambition much greater than money- 
making. He wanted to see a railroad reaching across the 
United States from coast to coast. He realized what such 
a railway system would mean to the country. The rail- 
road was necessary to open up the Northwest to settlers. 
The gold of California, the fruit of Washington and Ore- 
gon, the wheat of southern Canada — all these needed a 
railroad to carry them to the East. 

After Hill became joint owner in his first railroad he 
bent his energies to the one thing he wanted to accom- 
plish. In 1893 the Northern Pacific was completed to the 
Pacific Coast. This connected with the eastern lines so 
that the railroad reached from the Atlantic to the Pa- 
cific. A few years later he held more interest than any- 
one else in three different railway systems, and was called 
the railroad king. 



158 BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 

He succeeded because he would not be defeated and be- 
cause of his knowledge of men, his thorough understand- 
ing of business, his ability to look ahead, and his fearless- 
ness. In great things as well as small he was absolutely 
honest. When he was tempted to do a dishonest thing he 
replied, "It was not necessary to bribe me to do the fair 
and respectable thing toward so close a neighbor as the 
Union Pacific; and, on the other hand, I could not be 
bribed to do wrong in any way." 

OUR DEBT TO HILL 

By building his railroad Hill hastened the settlement of 
the Northwest and also its development. He added greatly 
to the wealth and prosperity of our country. He opened 
the way to the most wonderful scenery in America — that 
in the Canadian Rockies — and made it possible for people 
living anywhere in the United States to journey quickly, 
easily, and comfortably to such beautiful places as Gla- 
cier National Park. 

• In five days now one can travel from New York to San 
Francisco, and letters come and go as quickly. The or- 
anges and grapes of California and the apples of Wash- 
ington are sent all over the United States and arrive fresh 
and delicious. These and many other advantages are ours 
because of the railroads which now reach everywhere. 

Hill long ago saw the need for saving or conservation, 
of which we now hear so much. He wrote : "The armed 
fleets of an enemy approaching our harbors would be no 
more alarming than the coming of a day when we shall 
not have enough food for our people. The farmers must 
save food in the future just as they built up great stores 
of it in the past/' 



JAMES JEROME HILL 159 



Topics for Review and Search 

1. Find out where the first railroad in the United States was 
built. 

2. How was mail sent before there were railroads? 

3. What great invention we have already studied made travel 
much swifter? 

4. Where in the United States today do we travel or ship goods 
by water, and where by land? Why? 

5. For what kinds of transportation are airplanes used? How 
long have they been used in these ways? 

Suggested Supplementary Reading 

Famous Living Amerioans, Mary Griffin Webb (p. 234). 



THOMAS ALVA EDISON (1847-—) 

Thomas A. Edison was born in Milan, Ohio, February 
11, 1847. When he was seven years old his parents moved 
to Port Huron, Mich., near the Canadian border. His 
mother taught him at home and he spent much time read- 
ing. The books which he read and from which he learned 
passages were not a boy's story books. They included a 
history of the world, a small encyclopedia, and books on 
science. 

THE NEWSBOY 

At twelve he began selling papers, books, and candy on 
the train which ran between Port Huron and Detroit. He 
made such a success of this business that he earned forty 
dollars a month. 

He wanted to sell as many newspapers as he could each 
day, but he could not afford to buy more than he would 
sell. He made a friend of one of the newspaper men and 
persuaded him to show him each day a proof of the news 
for the following day. In this way the boy could judge 
how important the news was and order his papers accord- 
ingly. Ordinarily he sold about two hundred papers a day, 
but if there was exciting news he might sell three hundred. 

He was always quick to seize an opportunity. He was 
in Detroit when the news of the battle of Shiloh came. 
This was in the second year of the Civil War, and there 
was great excitement. Edison got the telegraph operator 
at Detroit to send a message to every town between there 

160 



THOMAS ALVA EDISON 



161 



and Port Huron. The station master in each place wrote 
on his bulletin board the news of a great battle, Grant 
victorious, and thousands killed. 

Edison knew there would be a big demand for papers 
and he had only money enough to buy three hundred. He 
made his way to the 
publisher of the paper 
and got one thousand 
papers on credit. He 
sold them at an in- 
creased price, and 
made what to him was 
"an immense sum of 
money." 

THE WEEKLY HERALD 

He received from a 
newspaper publisher in 
Detroit, with whom he 
had made friends, 
three hundred pounds 
of old type which the 
owner of the paper 
could no longer use. 
With this type Edison 
printed a small paper 
of his own which he 

called The Weekly Herald. He set up his printing case in 
the baggage car and worked as the train went along. This 
was the first newspaper ever published on a moving train. 
The paper, which was written by its fourteen-year-old 
proprietor, often contained late news which Edison learned 
from the telegraph operators. This, with items of local 




THOMAS A. EDISON IN HIS LABORATORY 



162 BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 

interest, made it a success, and he often sold four hundred 
copies of an issue. 

While a very small boy he had begun investigating and 
experimenting. His first laboratory was in the cellar of 
his home, and here he had about two hundred bottles of 
chemicals. With these he tried many experiments, and 
learned some valuable lessons. It was to get money to 
buy apparatus and chemicals that he began work as a 
newsboy. 

His next laboratory was in a corner of the baggage 
car, and here he worked when not selling papers. One 
day as the train was running swiftly over a piece of poorly 
laid track, there was a sudden jolt. A small explosion 
among the chemicals followed, and the car caught fire. 
The baggageman put out the fire, but he was so angry 
with the boy that he not only put him off the train, with 
his laboratory and printing press, but also boxed his ears 
severely. This punishment resulted in Edison's perma- 
nent deafness. In many ways this has been an advantage 
to the inventor, since he is not disturbed by the noisy 
machinery while working in his laboratory. 

THE TELEGRAPHER 

While a paper boy he became much interested in teleg- 
raphy, and determined to become a telegrapher. He and 
a boy friend built a line between their homes. It was 
made of common stove wire and bottles set on nails driven 
into trees, but the boys had great fun sending messages 
back and forth. 

One day, when he was fifteen, he was standing near the 
railroad track. Suddenly he saw a little boy toddle on to 
the track, right in front of a train. Edison snatched the 



THOMAS ALVA EDISON 163 

child out of the way just in time to save the Httle boy's 
life. The child's father was the telegraph operator at 
Port Huron, and as a token of gratitude he taught Edison 
telegraphy. The eager boy worked eighteen hours a day 
and soon mastered the art. He then became a night op- 
erator at twenty-five dollars a month. For the next few 
years he was a telegrapher in different cities. 

In 1868 Edison arrived in Boston and through a 
friend's recommendation secured a position in the office 
of the Western Union Telegraph Company. He was put 
to work at once. Edison had passed through a blizzard 
on his way east; he was tired, cold, and hungry. His 
clothes were mussed and shabby, and the other employes 
looked at him with contempt. They decided to have some 
fun at his expense. He was told to take a message for 
the Boston Herald. It had been arranged that a skillful 
operator in New York should send the dispatch so fast 
that no one could write it down. The New York man did 
his best, but Edison got every word and wrote it in a clear 
vertical hand. The joke was on the others. 

From Boston, Edison went to New York. Here he 
began making inventions, and he succeeded so well that he 
soon gave up telegraphy for the larger field of electricity, 
in which he had always been most interested. 

THE INVENTOR 

In the next few years he set up a laboratory of his own, 
where he employed fifty men to help him in his inventions. 
In one year he invented thirty-two different articles. Be- 
tween 1869 and 1910 more than thirteen hundred patents 
were granted to Edison. To him we owe the mimeograph, 
a machine with which one can make a thousand copies of 
a letter or printed sheet. 



164 



BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 




THE FIRST PHONOGRAPH 



THE PHONOGRAPH 

The phonograph is one of the few productions of 
Edison which came rather as a result of chance than of 
a plan. He tells that he had been experimenting with an 
automatic method of recording telegraph messages on a 
disk of paper laid on a revolving plate — such as is used 

in the talking machine to- 
day. He knew this plate 
could reproduce sound vi- 
brations, and it suddenly oc- 
curred to him that it ought 
to record the human voice. 
Edison told his idea to a 
friend who thought it ab- 
surd. Nevertheless, Edison held to his belief. After mak- 
ing a few necessary changes, Edison recited "Mary had a 
little lamb" into the machine. Both men were surprised 
beyond words when the machine repeated the words per- 
fectly. They were so interested that they sat up all night, 
making changes, and singing and reciting into the 
machine. 

The next morning Edison took his new invention to New 
York and went to the office of the Scientific American, 
where he demonstrated the machine. At first people did 
not believe it possible that a machine could reproduce the 
human voice. They thought there must be some trick 
about it. The first phonograph, while it could be under- 
stood, did not bring out clearly the sounds of some letters. 
Several years later Edison perfected the machine so 
that it gives forth the exact sounds which it receives. 

There are many different makes of phonographs today, 
but all are developed from the one which Edison invented. 



THOMAS ALVA EDISON 165 

THE ELECTRIC LIGHT 

Perhaps Edison's most important invention and the 
one of which he is most proud, is the electric light. For 
months he worked to produce a filament which would not 
burn out. The filament is what looks like fine wire in the 
incandescent bulb. For this he tried threads made of 
cotton and bamboo, sending men all over the world to get 
different kinds of the latter. In the end he manufactured 
a substance which makes a filament lasting hundreds of 
hours before it burns out. 

THE MOTION PICTURE 

While Edison did not invent the motion picture, his 
improvements gave it the form it has today. He thought 
of the long strip of film which could be unrolled at what- 
ever speed the operator wished while lights were timed to 
correspond. He was interested in this because he saw it 
could be of use in scientific study and in imparting infor- 
mation, but it has been used much more for entertainment. 

Edison has also worked out a combination of the mo- 
tion picture and the phonograph. This enables an audi- 
ence to hear the speeches of the actors or the songs of 
the opera while it watches the pictures. In this way a 
play or opera is completely given. This has not yet 
been used to any great extent, but will certainly be a 
means of education as well as of amusement, at a low price. 

THE ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE 

To this remarkable man we owe also the electric loco- 
motive. He was not the first who thought of using elec- 
tric power to pull cars, but it was he who worked out 
practical means of doing so. He made experiments and 



166 



BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 



improvements with electric locomotives and even had a 
track built on his own grounds. On this he himself ran 
his engines with great enjoyment. Here he demonstrated 
to the great railroad men of the country that the electric 
locomotive could do the same work as the steam 
locomotive. 




EDISON DRIVING HIS FIRST ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE 



At the same time he was working out methods of ap- 
plying electricity to street railways. The street-cars were 
then pulled by horses or, in some cases, by cable. Now 
horse-cars and cable-cars are practically unknown; elec- 
tric cars have taken their places. Electric locomotives, 
also, have been substituted, in many places, especially in 
cities, for steam locomotives. They have the advantage 
of operating without smoke and with very little noise. 



THOMAS ALVA EDISON 167 

One of Edison's recent inventions, of which he is very 
proud, is a means of making a cement house. By this 
method a ten-room house can be built in four days. A 
steel mold is set up, into which liquid concrete is poured. 
When the mold is removed there stands the whole house — 
walls, cellar, roof— complete in every detail. This, indeed, 
seems like magic. 

EDISON'S HOME 

At Orange, N. J., Edison built a beautiful home and 
extensive laboratories. It is in the latter that he spends 
most of his time. Here is his large library and the famous 
museum, which is said to contain the most complete as- 
sortment of chemicals in the world. There are many 
rooms, each with apparatus for experiments of different 
kinds. In Edison's own room there is a table on which 
he can eat a meal which is sent in, and a cot on which he 
can sleep for a few hours, for he often works here days 
at a time. 

EDISON AND AMERICA 

There is no electrical device of importance that does 
not owe something to Edison's genius. Without the elec- 
tric light the work of our great factories could not be 
carried on. His storage battery gives us such different 
things as the electric bell and the electric automobile. The 
phonograph will preserve the voices of our great men and 
singers for future generations. 

Edison's inventions have been adopted in all the coun- 
tries of Europe, and he has everywhere received medals 
and degrees. He cares little for these things, but we are 
proud that it is an American who has made all these in- 
ventions and received so many well-deserved honors. 



168 BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 

Topics for Review and Search 

1. What qualities of Edison as a boy do you admire? 

2. How many common uses of electricity can you name? 

3. Write an account of the state our country would be in, if 
we were suddenly compelled to stop the use of electricity. 

4. Mention other inventors of useful appliances. 

Suggested Supplementary Reading 

Winninff Their Way; Boys Who Learned Self -Help, John T. 
Faris (p. 31). 

Thomas Alva Edison, F. A. Jones. 

Boys' Life of Edison, W. H. Meadowcroft. 



SONGS OF HOME AND WORK 

Perhaps you have seen a group of laborers at work digging 
a trench or laying some rails. Often they mark each blow 
of the pickax or the hammer by a verse of a song. Sometimes 
all of them join in this verse, a religious song such as a negro 
"spiritual," or some national song peculiar to the foreign race 
to which the laborers belong. Or it may be a ballad, a story 
in song, in which some leader sings or invents the stanza and 
all the group join in the chorus. Song and work are naturally 
connected with each other. 

So the poets who are best loved in any country are those who 
have translated the daily experiences of all men into song. 
This Robert Burns did in his songs of simple Scottish peasant 
life. Some one once said that if he could make the songs of 
a people he would not care who made the laws. The songs 
of America, like the songs of France or Scotland or Italy, re- 
flect the life and ideals of the people. The poet is as valuable, 
therefore, as the explorer or the statesman or the inventor. 
In the Revolutionary War a poet named Philip Freneau wrote 
songs that the soldiers learned to love because of the courage 
they gained from singing them. In the war of 1812 Francis 
Scott Key, a prisoner on a British ship, watched the attempt 
to capture an American city, and in the joy of his heart wrote 
"The Star-Spangled Banner" to express his feelings when 
the morning light showed that the attempt had failed. Now 
when the band begins to play the music of this song we stand 
with bared heads in tribute to the flag. So also the "Battle 
Hymn of the Republic" and "Dixie" are songs dear to all 
Americans because they express our national life and ideals. 

Some men have written so many poems of home and work 
that they have become household poets of America. The 
story of one of these men you will find in the following pages. 

169 



170 BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 

Topics for Review and Search 

1. Find out how "The Star-Spangled Banner" came to be 
written. Can you repeat all the words? 

2. Name several songs which were sung by Americans during 
the World War. 

3. Give the names of the national songs of as many countries 
as you can. 

4. When you are happy, do you feel like singing? What song 
do you like best? 

Suggested Supplementary Reading 

Songs That Every Child Should Know, Mrs. M. S. H. Bacon. 
Stories of Great National Songs, N. Smith. 
Days and Deeds, Burton Egbert Stevenson. 



HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW (1807-1882) 

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born in Portland, 
Maine, February 27, 1807. His father was a lawyer, and 
the boy lived in a home of comfort and received the best 
education afforded in his time. 

The town of Portland is beautifully located on high 
land. On one side is the ocean where you can see the 
white-sailed boats coming into port. The view in the 
other direction is of the mountains with their dark ever- 
greens. Even at that time the elms, which line the streets 
of Portland, were tall trees. 

With his four sisters and three brothers he spent many 
a happy vacation on the farms of his two grandfathers, 
which were only a few miles from Portland. Here he had 
the fun which a town boy so much enjoys — going for the 
cows, gathering eggs, picking strawberries, driving the 
horses. 

Henry played ball with the other boys, flew his kite, 
went swimming in summer, and coasting and skating in 
winter. But, unlike his friends, he was fond of walking 
alone in the woods, where he could think. 

Many years afterward he wrote a poem about some of 
his boyhood memories. 

Pleasant it was, when woods were green 

And winds were soft and low, 
To lie amid some sylvan scene, 
Where, the long drooping boughs between, 
Shadows dark and sunlight sheen 

Alternate come and go; 

171 



172 BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 

Beneath some patriarchal tree 

I lay upon the ground; 
His hoary arms uplifted he, 
And all the broad leaves over me 
Clapped their little hands in glee, 

With one continuous sound; — 

And dreams of that which cannot die, 

Bright visions, came to me. 
As lapped in thought I used to lie. 
And gaze into the summer sky. 
Where the sailing clouds went by. 

Like ships upon the sea. 

He went to school at five, then to the Portland Academy, 
and graduated from Bowdoin College when he was eight- 
een. He then spent three years in Europe, studying mod- 
ern languages and literature. 

THE PROFESSOR 

On his return he was made a professor of modern 
languages in his own college, Bowdoin. There he lectured 
on French, Spanish, and Italian literature, besides pre- 
paring his own textbooks. This young professor, then 
only twenty-two, became very popular with the students. 
He was their comrade and took as keen a delight in their 
recreations as in helping them with their work. One of 
his pupils has said that "a better teacher, a more sympa- 
thetic friend never addressed a class of young men." 

AT HARVARD . 

In 1834 Harvard College offered him a professorship 
with the privilege of a year's study abroad. In this 
year he traveled through Norway, Sweden, Denmark, 
Germany, and Switzerland, learning the Swedish, Danish, 
and Icelandic languages, At the end of the year he 



HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW 



173 



returned to Harvard College as professor of modern 
languages and literature. 

He lived in the historic Craigie House, Cambridge, 
overlooking the beautiful Charles River. This beauti- 
ful old colonial mansion had once been owned by a 
wealthy English merchant, who was on the side of King 




CRAIGIE HOUSE 



George during the Revolution. It was here that Wash- 
ington had his headquarters during the defense of Bos- 
ton. The room which had once been Washington's office 
became the poet's study. 

Here it was that Longfellow began writing as a serious 
work, and he wrote much during these days, without 
neglecting his many college duties. His first books were 
prose, but he soon published a volume of poems, and from 
that time on he wrote only poetry. After eighteen years 



174 BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 

at Harvard, Longfellow resigned his professorship to give 
all his time to writing. 

He had a happy home hfe, and his friends were the 
chief literary men of his day. He knew Hawthorne and 
John S. C. Abbott while he was in college ; and Lowell and 
Holmes were friends of his later life. 

LONGFELLOW AND THE CHILDREN 

One of Longfellow's most striking characteristics was 
his love for children, and many of his poems were written 
for them. He had two boys and three girls of his own ; in 
his poem, "The Children's Hour," he described his daugh- 
ters at "grave Alice and laughing Allegra and Edith with 
golden hair." He has been called "the children's poet," 
and the following verses are part of a poem he called 
"Children": 

Come to me, O ye children! 

And whisper in my ear 
What the birds and the winds are singing 

In your sunny atmosphere. 

For what are all our contrivings, 

And the wisdom of our books, 
When compared with your caresses 

And the gladness of your looks? 

Ye are better than all the ballads 

That ever were sung or said; 
For ye are living poems, 

And all the rest are dead. 

The children loved him very much in return. His poem, 
"The Village Blacksmith," beginning "Under a spreading 
chestnut tree," was suggested by a real blacksmith who 
worked under a tree in Cambridge. When this tree had 



HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW 



175 



to be cut down the school children of the city had an arm- 
chair made from the wood. The children marched to 
Longfellow's home on his birthday, sang their songs for 
him, and presented him 
with the chair. 

HIS FAREWELL TOUR OF 
EUROPE 

In 1868 and 1869 Long- 
fellow, with his children, 
traveled through a great 
part of Europe. His rep- 
utation had long since 
gone before him, and he 
was honored wherever he 
went. The universities 
of Cambridge and Oxford 
conferred degrees upon 
him. A friend has de- 
scribed him as he then 
appeared in a college pro- 
cession: "The face was 
one which would have 

caught the spectator's glance, even if not called to it by 
the cheers which greeted his appearance in the red robes 
of a Doctor of Laws. Long white silken hair and a beard 
of patriarchal whiteness enclosed a fresh-colored counten- 
ance with fine cut features and deep sunken eyes, over- 
shadowed by massive eyebrows." 




LONGFELLOW'S ARMCHAIR 



THE POET 

Longfellow's best poems and those which give him the 
highest rank are American in subject as well as in spirit. 



176 



BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 



His ability to tell a story is shown in the short poem, 
Paul Revere's Ride, which is a stirring account of a real 
incident in the Revolutionary War. Evangeline is a story, 
also, but a much longer one. It, too, is a tale from Ameri- 
can history and no one who has read it can ever forget 
the sufferings of the poor Acadians who were driven from 
their homes. The Courtship of Miles Standish is a tale of 
the Puritans in New England. 




HIAWATHA 

Longfellow studied the great poems of the world, and 
he wanted to write a great American poem. For subject 
he took a legend of the American Indians, the story of 
an imaginary hero. The poet studied the life of the In- 
dian and learned many Indian words. In less than a year 
he composed the long poem, Hiaivatha. It is so simple 
that a child can understand it, but at the same time it is 
interesting to any one. It is filled with nature studies, 
and gives a poetic picture of Indian life. 



LONGFELLOW, THE AMERICAN 
Craigie House was his home until his death in 1882, 
and the house has been kept just as it was when he lived 
in it. A bust of Longfellow stands in the "Poets' Corner" 



HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW 177 

of Westminster Abbey, that beautiful English church in 
which so many poets are buried. 




LONGFELLOW IN HIS STUDY 

Not only did Longfellow choose American subjects for 
many of his poems, but the lines which have been called 
his finest poetry are also his most patriotic : 

Thou, too, sail on, Ship of State! 

Sail on, O Union, strong and great! 
Humanity with all its fears. 
With all the hopes of future years 

Is hanging breathless on thy fate! 

Topics for Review and Search 

1. How many poems by Longfellow have you read? Which do 
you like best? Why? 

2. Tell the story of Paul Revere's ride. Is it more interesting 
in poetry or in prose? 

3. What kind of man was Longfellow? Would you liko to have 
known him? 



178 BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 

4. Name some other American poets. Do you know of any who 
are still living? 

5. What kind of books did Hawthorne write? John S. C. Ab- 
bott? Lowell? Holmes? 

Suggested Supplementary Reading 

On Wood Cove Island; a Summer with Longfellow, Elbridge S. 
Brooks. 

Four American Poets, Sherwin Cody (p. 71). 

Children's Stories in American Literature, Henrietta C. Wright 
(p. 156). 



A CLOSER UNION 

We have already seen that after our country was discovered 
and the foundations laid , the thirteen groups had to 
unite. One of the chief tasks of the great men of that time 
was to awaken the colonies to the need for cooperation. They 
succeeded in drawing up a plan of government called a Con- 
stitution, in which this union was accomplished. For many 
years there was no trouble. But there were, from the first, 
men who thought that it was right for states to withdraw 
from this union if they wished, just as a business partnership 
may be broken up at the will of any members of the company. 

As time went on, the differences of opinion increased. The 
march of the pioneers about which you read a while ago was 
toward the West. The roads, and later the railroads, followed 
this westward march. But the country was divided, not into 
East and West, but into North and South. This was because 
of climate, different crops, and the different systems of work 
which had sprung up. Many people in the North believed 
slavery of any kind wrong, while the majority of southerners 
thought it right, and necessary with their large plantations. 

Misunderstandings arose because the people of one section 
did not know very well the people from other sections. Some 
great Americans saw the danger in this and tried to bring 
about a better understanding. They tried to show all people 
of the North and of the South that only in keeping the partner- 
ship of the states unbroken could America continue her 
progress or even guard her safety. There were equally sin- 
cere and devoted men who thought that the two sections 
ought to separate. The result of the quarrel was a great war. 

We are far enough away from this war now to see that it 
was necessary in order that the Union might be made strong 
enough to withstand any shock. Many people in Europe had 

179 



180 BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 

from the first held that this new plan of living could not 
last, that it could not meet the test. We can see now that this 
(var was as necessary to the firm foundation of our plan of 
government as was the Revolutionary War in which America 
separated from England. We are far enough away from it 
to realize that some of the men who fought against the Union, 
men like General Lee, were sincere and great Americans. 
Out of it all one great figure rises supreme, the figure of 
Abraham Lincoln, greatest of Americans since Washington, 
the man who saved the Union. 

Topics for Review and Search 

1. Name some men who helped awaken the colonies to the need 
for union; some who helped in drawing up the Constitution. 

2. Name some men who helped the pioneers, and tell what each 
did. 

3. What were the chief industries in the South? In the New 
England States? In the North-Central States? 

4. In the World War (1914-1919) did the different parts of the 
country — North, South, East, and West — have the same interest 
and act with the same enthusiasm? 

Suggested Supplementary Reading 

The Romance of the Civil War, A. B. Hart. 

Deeds of Daring by the American Soldiers, North and South, 
During the Civil War, D. M. Kelsey. 

Civil War Stories Retold from St. Nicholas. 



DANIEL WEBSTER (1782-1852) 




HOUSE IN WHICH ^VEBSTER WAS BORN 



Just at the close of the Revolutionary War there was 
born in a log cabin among the New Hampshire hills a boy 
who was to become America's greatest orator. Daniel 
Webster was the 



son of a farmer, 
Ebenezer Webster, 
and was next to 
the youngest in a 
family of ten. 

At five he caught 
his first trout in a 
mountain stream 
near his home. In 
doing so he fell 
into the cold water, but this did not lessen his liking for 
fishing, for it was always his favorite sport. 

Because he was a delicate child he was permitted to 
spend much of his time in play. His mother taught him 
to read and he was fond of reading aloud. Even as a child 
he had a clear musical voice and read well. Many a farmer 
would stop at the Webster home, saying, 

"Come, let's go in and hear Dan Webster read a Psalm." 

The boy made a friend of an old sea captain who loved 
him and carried him on his back when the little fellow 
was not able to walk. He told the boy marvelous tales 
and Daniel read aloud to him the small newspapers of tha\: 
day. 

181 



182 



BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 



This boy had a very unusual memory and at eight years 
of age it is said he had learned by heart the entire consti- 
tution of the United States. He memorized long passages 

from Shakespeare 
and whole chapters 
of the Bible. After 
he had started to 
school he won a jack- 
knife as a prize for 
reciting more Bible 
verses than any 
other child. When 
he had given sixty 
or seventy verses the 
teacher presented 
him with the knife. 
"But," said the 
boy, "I know several 
chapters more." 



IN ACADEMY AND 
COLLEGE 





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DANIEL WEBSTER 



When Daniel was 
fourteen his father 
sent him to Phillips Academy at Exeter. Most of the 
other boys were from wealthy families and they ridiculed 
and teased the new boy because of his country manners 
and homespun clothes. He became so self-conscious that 
during the year he remained at Exeter he was unable to 
give a declamation though he prepared himself carefully 
beforehand and liked speaking better than anything else. 
But he made such a success of his studies that before he 



DANIEL WEBSTER 



183 



had been in the academy three months he was placed at 
the head of his class. 

A year later he entered Dartmouth College. His father 
had resolved that the youth should have an education, 
even though it meant sacrifices for all the family. The 
farm was mortgaged and Daniel went 
to college. He graduated when he 
was nineteen. His father had ex- 
pected him to be a teacher, but Web- 
ster decided to study law. 

At the time Daniel went to college 
his next older brother, Ezekiel, wanted 
very much to go, too. The father 
could not spare both boys from the 
farm and it was decided that Daniel 
should go because he was not strong 
enough for farming. But the younger 
boy was determined his brother 
should have a chance, and while 
studying law he taught school and did 
copying at night to earn money to help 
his brother. At last Ezekiel was graduated from college, 
and both brothers became lawyers. 




BUNKER HILL 

MONUMENT 



THE ORATOR 



He practiced law for several years in small towns of 
New Hampshire. While he was in college he had over- 
come his shyness and become an easy speaker. He gained 
in power and ability while speaking constantly in the 
courts. In 1820 he was chosen to give the Plymouth ora- 
tion in memory of the landing of the Pilgrims two hun- 
dred years before. This marked the beginning of his 



184 BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 

career as an orator. Five years later he delivered his 
great Bunker Hill oration, when the cornerstone of the 
monument was laid. 

He was twice elected to Congress and then to the Sen- 
ate. Here he made his famous speech in reply to Senator 
Hayne. Hayne spoke in favor of state rights, while Web- 
ster eloquently defended the United States as a nation. 
He argued that since the country as a whole is more im- 
portant that any one state, no state can refuse to obey 
laws made for all. Nor has any state the right to with- 
draw from the Union which was made by all and for all 
the states. These were his closing words : 

When my eyes shall be turned to behold, for the last time, the 
sun in heaven, may I not see him shining on the broken and dis- 
honored fragments of a once glorious Union; on states dissevered, 
discordant, belligerent, on a land rent with civil feuds, or drenched, 
it may be, in fraternal blood. Let their last feeble and lingering 
glance rather behold the gorgeous ensign of the Republic now 
known and honored throughout the earth ; still full, high, advanced, 
its arms and trophies streaming in their original luster, not a 
stripe erased or polluted, not a single star obscured, bearing for 
its motto no such miserable interrogatory as "What is all this 
worth?" nor those other words of folly and delusion, "Liberty 
first and Union afterwards"; but everywhere, spread all over in 
characters of living light, blazing on all its ample folds as they 
float over the sea and over the land, and in every wind under the 
whole heavens, that other sentiment dear to every American 
heart, "Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable," 



MARSHFIELD 

Webster had a beautiful home near Boston, which he 
named Marshfield. There were two thousand acres of 
land cultivated and in pastures. Cattle, horses, and sheep, 
and many kinds of poultry were raised here. There were 
thousands of fruit trees which he himself had planted. 



DANIEL WEBSTER 185 

He was very fond of the wild animals and birds and 
would never permit one to be killed on his estate. Once 
when Webster was walking with a friend they came upon 
a flock of quails. The friend said he wished he had a gun. 
Webster replied that he would not permit any one to kill 
a quail or a rabbit or a squirrel on his property. At this 
moment one of the little quails began to sing. 




MARSHFIELD 



"There," said Webster, "does not that gush of song do 
the heart a thousand times more good than could possibly 
be derived from the death of that beautiful bird?" 

In September, 1852, he gave up his public duties and 
retired to live a quiet life at Marshfield with his family. 
The next month he died. During the last days of his life 
he lay where he could see through the open window a 
United States flag — the flag which stood for "Liberty and 
Union, now and forever, one and inseparable." 

Webster was a most striking looking man. He was 
nearly six feet tall with a broad forehead overhanging 



186 BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 

great black eyes. A man who saw him in England is said 
to have remarked : 

"That man must be a king." 

WEBSTER'S SERVICE TO THE NATION 

In common with all other great men, Webster looked 
toward the future. This is illustrated in the famous 
closing of the Bunker Hill Oration : 

Let our age be the age of improvement. In a day of peace, let 
us advance the arts of peace and the works of peace. Let us 
develop the resources of our land, call forth its powers, build up 
its institutions, promote all its great interests, and see whether we 
also, in our age and generation, may not perform something worthy 
to be remembered. Let us cultivate a true spirit of union and har- 
mony Let us extend our ideals over the whole of the 

vast field in which we are called to act. Let our object be OUR 

COUNTRY, OUR WHOLE COUNTRY, AND NOTHING BUT OUR COUNTRY, 

and with the blessing of God, may that country itself become a 
vast and splendid monument, not of oppression and terror, but 
of wisdom, of peace, and of liberty, upon which the world may 
gaze with admiration forever! 

All his great power of oratory, his clear thinking and 
forceful expression were placed at his country's service 
and used only for his country's good. It was when he 
believed that the Union was actually in danger that he 
made his great speeches. No other man in the Senate 
could have answered Hayne as Webster did and at the 
same time convinced the whole country that his point of 
view was the right one. 

When the time came that men had to go forth and fight 
to preserve the Union, they were ready. Many of these 
were men who had in boyhood read Webster's famous 
speech and had grown up with an ever-increasing love for 
their country and a firm determination to keep that coun- 
try united. So his great message of nationality was 



DANIEL WEBSTER * 187 

understood and acted upon. Webster's oratory was one 
cause of the triumph of union over sectionalism, and out 
of this saving of the Union has grown the present-day 
greatness of our country. 

Topics for Review and Search 

1. In what respects were Patrick Henry and Daniel Webster 
alike? 

2. Who was the man in Revolutionary times who believed, as 
Webster did, that the Union is of greater importance than the 
states? 

3. What incidents show Webster's unselfishness and his kind- 
heartedness? 

4. Is it possible for an orator to do as much for his country as 
a general or a statesman does? 

Suggested Supplementary Reading 

Famous American Statesmen, Sarah Knowles Bolton (p. 177). 
Daniel Webster for Young Americans, C. F. Richardson. 
The Child's Book of Am,erican Biography, Mary S. Stimpson 
(p. 124). 



ROBERT EDWARD LEE (1807-1870) 

On a beautiful estate, overlooking the Potomac River 
and near the home of George Washington, Robert E. Lee 
was born, January 19, 1807. His father, who had been 
an officer in the Revolutionary War, died when Robert was 
only eleven years old. He was a tender and devoted son 
to his mother, who trained him in the qualities of manli- 
ness, truthfulness, and love for the right which ever dis- 
tinguished him. 

Soon after the death of Robert's father, the family 
moved to Alexandria, Virginia, in order that the boy 
might attend school there. 

At eighteen he entered the United States Military Acad- 
emy at West Point. The military life was his natural 
choice, because many of his ancestors had been soldiers. 
He was always a careful student ; one of his early teachers 
said that whatever work Lee handed in was always more 
nearly perfect than that of the other students. While he 
was at the Military Academy he had the distinction of not 
receiving a single demerit, and he was graduated with 
the next to the highest rank in his class. 

LEE AS ENGINEER 

Upon graduation, Lee entered the United States Army 
as a second lieutenant of engineers, and was soon promoted 
to the rank of captain. While an engineer he performed 
valuable work for his country. He saved the city of St. 

188 



ROBERT EDWARD LEE 189 

Louis from a serious flood by his carefully built levees. He 
surveyed the upper Mississippi River and thus helped open 
it to navigation. He made many suggestions for our sys- 
tem of internal waterways. While at Fort Hamilton, he 
greatly improved the defenses of New York harbor. 

THE MEXICAN WAR 

When the Mexican War began, in 1846, Lee was sent to 
the front. The Mexican trouble arose over the question 
of Texas and slavery. The Spanish government had given 
Moses Austin, an American, the right to found a colony in 
Texas. This colony, in which slavery was soon established, 
grew rapidly, as many Americans went there to live. Jack- 
son, who was then President of the United States, wished 
to buy Texas from Mexico, but Mexico refused to sell. To 
assert her right to the territory she gave freedom to the 
slaves in Texas, and this act caused a revolt among the 
people. A war followed, in which Texas gained her inde- 
pendence and established a government at Austin. She 
applied for admission as a state and was made a part of 
the United States in 1845. Mexico held that Texas claimed 
more territory than rightfully belonged to her. Deter- 
mined to win back this territory, the Mexicans invaded 
the new state and killed a number of Americans. The 
North, as a whole, was opposed to this war, as it meant 
the extension of slavery ; but matters had gone too far to 
settle the dispute peaceably, and the Mexican war fol- 
lowed. After a brief campaign the United States won. 

Lee won a great reputation as a soldier in this war and 
quickly rose to the rank of major. General Scott declared 
him at that time "the greatest living soldier in America" 
and gave him the credit for our success in Mexico. 



190 



BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 
AT WEST POINT 



In 1831 he married Mary Custis, whose father was the 
grandson of Mrs. Washington. The beautiful home called 
Arlington was theirs, but after the Mexican War Lee was 
made superintendent of West Point, and he moved his 
family to New York. His oldest son, Custis, and he took 




ARLINGTON 

long horseback rides through the beautiful woods which 
cover the hills along the Hudson River. He was very suc- 
cessful in dealing with the cadets, for he was himself a fine 
example of "a perfect gentleman and an excellent soldier." 
He spent three years there before he was sent back to the 
soutnwestern frontier. 

LEE IN THE CIVIL WAR 

When the Civil War began, Lee had a hard choice to 
make. Because of his ability and his experience as a 
soldier the command of the Union or Northern army was 



ROBERT EDWARD LEE 191 

offered to him. If he accepted it he would have to fight 
against his native state, the state to which his ancestors 
had given their loyal services, Washington's state. He 
felt his duty was to take the part of Virginia, and he 
refused the command of the United States Army. He 
wrote: 

I declined the offer made me to take command of the army 
. . . . because, though opposed to secession, .... I 
could take no part in an invasion of the southern states. With all 
my devotion to the Union and the feeling of loyalty and duty of 
an American citizen, I have not been able to make up my mind 
to raise my hand against my relatives, my children, my home. 
I know you will blame me, but you must think as kindly of me as 
you can and believe that I have come to do what I thought right. 



THE CONFEDERATE GENERAL 

He accepted the command of the Virginia forces and 
soon after he was made commander of the army of the 
Confederacy, as the seceded part of the country called 
itself. Richmond was made the Confederate capital and 
Virginia became the battleground of the war. In the 
summer of 1862 Lee had in his army about 70,000 men, 
while opposed to him was McClellan with 105,000. This 
northern force moved into Virginia and advanced on Rich- 
mond, hoping to take the capital. Lee opposed them so 
successfully that the Northern army was driven back and 
kept up a continuous fight for seven days and nights. By 
this campaign Lee saved Richmond. 

After this the northern generals, Burnside, Pope, and 
Hooker, each led an army against Lee. In every case the 
Confederates were able to keep the northern force from 
gaining any noteworthy victory. In the third year of the 
war Lee invaded Pennsylvania and was defeated at the 



192 



BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 



terrible battle of Gettysburg. At about the same time 
Grant took Vicksburg in the west, and from then on the 
Northern Army had a series of victories, while the South- 
ern grew constantly weaker. 

During the latter part of the war Lee's soldiers were 

without sufficient 
clothing to keep them 
warm. Many of the 
men had no shoes 
and were forced to 
march in their bare 
feet. Lee did not 
spare himself any of 
the hardships or 
dangers, but often de- 
nied himself comforts 
that his soldiers 
might have them. 



THE END OF THE 
WAR 

Finally the South 
was entirely worn 
out. There were no 
more men to be called 
into the army and all kinds of supplies were lacking. Sadly 
Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House, 
April 9, 1865. 

Lee took his defeat without any feeling of bitterness 
toward the North or toward General Grant. To his soldiers 
he said, "We are conscious that we have humbly tried to 
do our duty; we may, therefore, with calm satisfaction, 
trust in God and leave results to Him." 




ROBERT E. LEE 



ROBERT EDWARD LEE 



193 



Shortly after the surrender Lee mounted his faithful 
gray horse, Traveler, which he had ridden all through the 
war. When his men saw him about to ride away, cheers 
arose on all sides, from the faithful soldiers of the South 
as true to their general in defeat as in victory. Lee was 




LEE ON TRAVELER 



deeply touched. All he could say was, "Men, we have 
fought through the war together. I have done my best 
for you. My heart is too full to say more." 



COLLEGE PRESIDENT 

Lee devoted the remaining years of his life to service 
in his beloved South. He said, "I think the South requires 
the aid of her sons now more than at any period of her 
history." He tried in every way to create harmony and 



194 BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 

union between the South and the Federal Government 
at Washington. 

For five years he was president of the college at Lex- 
ington, Virginia. It was then called Washington College, 
but its name has since been changed to Washington and 
Lee University in honor of its great general-president. 
How fitting that the names of these two great men of Vir- 
ginia should be so linked together in a great cause for 
good! Many southerners sent their sons there, so that 
they might be trained under General Lee, who took great 
interest in the work of the individual students. He knew 
their aims and ambitions and how they stood in their 
college work. They, in turn, looked up to him and worked 
hard to gain his praise. It was an ideal companionship, 
this, of students and college president. Thus it was that 
he quietly passed the remainder of his life among those 
who loved him best. He died October 12, 1870, respected 
and loved not only by the South but by the North as well. 

A GREAT GENERAL AND A GREAT MAN 

Robert E. Lee was a great general, perhaps the greatest 
our country has produced. Because of his training and 
his loyalty to Virginia, his state and the state of his an- 
cestors, he had to take the side of the South. Having 
taken it he used all his ability in its defense. But we have 
read how the long and hard-fought struggle ended in a 
complete victory for the North. 

Terrible as was the Civil War, great good grew out of 
it. The institution of slavery was abolished, and the 
South has been built up on a new basis. Lee was great 
enough to accept defeat and rejoice in a reunited country. 
During the years just after the close of the war he worked 
unceasingly toward the new spirit of union. 



ROBERT EDWARD LEE 195 

Topics for Review and Search 

1. Name some other great Americans who lived in Virginia. 
What is one nickname for that state? 

2. Find out all you can about the schools at West Point and at 
Annapolis. 

3. What are the "internal waterways" of our country? 

4. Tell the stories of how the United States had three times 
gained new territory. 

Suggested Supplementary Reading 

Son of Light Horse Harry, J. Barnes. 
Winning Their Way, J. T. Faris (page 187). 
The Life of Robert E. Lee for Boys and Girls, J. G. Hamilton 
and Mary Thompson Hamilton. 



ULYSSES S. GRANT (1822-1885) 

Ulysses Simpson Grant was born at Point Pleasant, 
Ohio, April 27, 1822. His home was a small cottage on the 
bank of the Ohio River. From the windows of the house 
there was a beautiful view. 

His father was a farmer and leather manufacturer. 
The boy did not take to the leather business, but gladly 
did all kinds of farm work. He liked especially to drive 
the horses. When he was only eight years old he hauled 
all the wood used in the home and in his father's tannery. 
For the next few years he did the plowing and hauling 
on the farm and sawed the firewood outside of school 
hours. 

Many stories are told of his ability to manage horses. 
When he was five years old, he rode standing upright on 
the horse's back, often with one foot in the air. He won 
the prize in a circus for mastering a trick pony that had 
thrown every one else who tried to ride him. Farmers 
from other villages brought their horses to Grant for 
training. 

When he was fifteen he went to school in the winter at 
Maysville, Kentucky, about twenty miles from home. In 
summer he worked on the farm, and this outdoor life 
made him strong and hardy. 

HIS NAME 

For sixteen years the boy lived in these crude sur- 
roundings. The people among whom he grew up were 

196 



ULYS3E3 S. GRANT 



197 




simple, honest, and hard-working. They disliked show of 
any kind, and sometimes made fun of his queer name, 
Ulysses, changing it to Useless. When his father was 
asked how his son came to have this name, he told the 
following story. When Ulysses was a small baby, his 
parents and their 
relatives who 
were visiting 
them discussed a 
name for the tiny 
son. Finally they 
agreed that each 
should w r i t e on 
a slip of paper 
the name he pre- 
ferred. The slips 
were then thrown 
in a hat, shaken, 
and two drawn out. These had on them the name Hiram, 
which his grandfather had written, and Ulysses, the choice 
of his grandmother, who had just been reading about 
the old Greek hero. The baby was accordingly named 
Hiram Ulysses. 

For the first sixteen years of his life, he was called 
Ulysses. Then his name was changed by accident. It is 
said that when he was preparing to go to West Point, he 
got a new trunk, marked with his initials. When he 
noticed H. U. G. painted on one side, he said, "I won't 
have that. It spells hug and the boys would plague me 
about it." He changed it to U. H. G., but when he reached 
West Point, he found that he had been registered as 
Ulysses Simpson Grant. Simpson was his mother's 
maiden name, and he liked it better than Hiram, so hence- 



GKANT'S BIRTHPLACE 



198 BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 

forth he was U. S. Grant. After he became a famous 
man, he was sometimes called, jokingly, United States 
Grant or Uncle Sam Grant. 

AT WEST POINT 

At seventeen he entered the United States Military 
Academy. His teachers found Grant truthful and obedi- 
ent, but he was not good in his studies. He worked faith- 
fully and stood fairly well because he never received any 
demerits for misconduct. 

He had a chance at West Point to show the skill with 
horses for which he had been noted since he was a little 
boy. In a contest he won the record for the highest jump 
on horseback, by a leap of five feet, six and a half inches, 
made upon a horse that no one else dared ride. This is 
the story that is told by one who saw the leap : 

When the regular exercises were completed, the class, still 
mounted, was formed in lines in the center of the hall. The riding 
master placed the leaping bar higher than a man's head, and called 
out, "Cadet Grant." 

A slender young fellow, weighing about a hundred and twenty 
pounds, dashed from the ranks on a powerfully built, chestnut sorrel 
horse, and galloped down the opposite side of the hall. As he turned 
at the farther end, and came into the straight stretch, across which 
the bar was placed, the horse increased his pace, and measuring his 
strides for the great leap before him, bounded into the air, and 
cleared the bar, carrying his rider as if man and beast were welded 
together. The spectators were breathless. 

The day of graduation is a great one at West Point, 
for it is then the cadet enters the United States Army. 
When Grant finished his course, he was appointed a second 
lieutenant in the Fourth Infantry. 

He spent the next two years at Jefferson Barracks, 
near St, Louis. In 1846-7 he fought in the Mexican War 



ULYSSES S. GRANT 



199 



which settled the Texas boundary line and gave us Cali- 
fornia. After this he left the army and spent several 
years in farming and keeping store, but he was not suc- 
cessful in any of his attempts. 



IN THE CIVIL WAR 

When the Civil War began and the first call for volun- 
teers came, Grant at once offered his services. His offer 
was accepted, and he 
was made a Colonel. 
His work was to take 
the volunteers and in 
a few weeks train 
them to be skilled 
soldiers. He showed 
great ability from the 
first in handling 
men. 

Grant's first great 
achievement in the 
war was the capture 
of Fort Henry and 
Fort Donelson. These 
two forts, one on the 
Tennessee, the other 
on the Cumberland 
River, were held by 
the Southern Army 
and enabled them to 
defend the states of 

Kentucky and Tennessee. In the attack on Fort Henry 
Grant had the able assistance of Commodore Foote 
on the water; but his army took Fort Donelson alone. 




GENERAL U. S. GRANT 



200 BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 

For three days he kept up a siege. When the defenders 
could hold out no longer they asked Grant what terms 
he would give if they surrendered. To this Grant 
replied: "No terms except an immediate and uncondi- 
tional surrender can be made." 

From this the hero of Fort Donelson was nicknamed 
Unconditional Surrender Grant. 

THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG 

He decided next to take Vicksburg on the Mississippi, 
because of its important position. For six weeks Grant 
besieged this strongly fortified city. At the end of this 
time, the people of Vicksburg, cut off from the rest of the 
world, were without food of any kind. The fort had made 
a gallant defense, but on July 3, 1863, the white flag of 
surrender went up. The entire course of the Mississippi 
was now in the hands of the Union Army, and Lincoln 
said, "The Father of Waters rolls unvexed to the sea." 

COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF 

Because of his successes in the West, Grant was made 
lieutenant-general in 1864. This placed him in command 
of all the Union forces, eastern as well as western. He 
then planned another campaign against Richmond, the 
capital of the Confederacy. At the same time General 
Sherman, another able Union commander, was to push 
on into Georgia, capture the important city of Atlanta, 
and then march to the sea. 

Never was there a braver or more stubborn resistance 
than Lee offered to Grant. Terrible fighting marked every 
mile of the way, and the losses on both sides were heavy. 



ULYSSES S. GRANT 201 

Grant was determined and had a dogged persistence. In 
a letter to the President he wrote, "I propose to fight it 
out on this line if it takes all summer." Still the summer 
ended and also the winter and Grant had not captured 
Richmond. 

General Sherman had taken Atlanta and made his 
famous march toward the sea. He turned north to assist 
Grant, but Grant did not need him. His persistence had 
won. Lee's troops were worn out, their clothing was in 
rags, and they had scarcely anything to eat. The noble 
commander of the Confederate forces now decided to 
give up the hopeless struggle against an army that was 
larger, and also was well provided with clothing, food, 
and arms. On April 2, Richmond was taken and the Stars 
and Stripes once more floated over the city. 

A few days later General Lee formally surrendered 
his army, which was now reduced to 26,000, to General 
Grant at Appomattox Court House. Never did Grant 
show himself greater than at that time. He returned Lee's 
sword to him. Not only did he permit the officers to keep 
their swords and their horses, but he bade the common 
soldiers take their mules and horses because "they would 
need them for the spring plowing." Not a salute fol- 
lowed the surrender, 

HIS LATER LIFE 

Grant was afterward elected President. In his letter 
accepting the nomination, he wrote, "Let us have peace," 
and these words became the motto of his party. 

After eight years of service as President, Grant and 
his wife spent two years in a trip around the world and 
everywhere were received with honor. 



202 



BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 



When he returned home he found the American people 
equally glad to see him. His journey from the Pacific 
Coast was one continuous reception. The greatest cele- 
bration in honor of his home-coming was held in Chicago. 

Ten thousand soldiers 
who had fought in the 
Civil War paraded before 
him. 

For several years he 
lived in New York, where 
he wrote his Memoirs. 
When he died the entire 
nation mourned. His 
tomb is a famous place 
in Riverside Park. On 
the beautiful monument 
are engraved the words, 
"Let us have peace." 

GRANT AND THE 
UNION 

GRANT'S TOMB 

We honor Grant for his 
strict honesty, his kindness and generosity to foes as 
well as to friends, and his great love of country. With- 
out his military genius we do not know what the out- 
come of the Civil War would have been. If the Union 
Army had not been victorious we should not have 
the united country in which we live. Grant, like Lee, 
was great enough to desire above all things that friendly 
feeling between the North and the South should grow 
continually stronger. In the last years of his life he 
had the happiness of seeing the two sections of the country 
friends again. 




ULYSSES S. GRANT 203 

Topics for Review and Search 

1. Why did we have the Mexican War, and what was the chief 
result of it? 

2. What sort of man was Grant? 

3. Compare his work with that of General Pershing. 

4. Mention several ways in which the Civil War was different 
from the Re ^iutionary War. 

Suggested Supplementary Reading 

The Tanner Boy, a Life of General U. S. Grant, C. W. Denison. 
Boys' Life of General Grant, T. W. Knox. 
Boys' Life of U. S. Grant, Helen Nicolay. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN (1809-1865) 

In a little log cabin in the wilderness, near Hodgens- 
ville, Kentucky, Abraham Lincoln was born on the twelfth 
of February, 1809. As a boy he found life very interest- 
ing. He was not troubled because he did not live in a fine 
home with modern conveniences. Every one whom he 
knew lived in a log house. 

His home was the great out-of-doors where he loved 
to run and play. What fun those children must have had — 
Abraham, his sister Nancy, his cousin Dennis, and the 
other boys and girls in the neighborhood. Most of the 
time they were free to wander as they would, for the 
school which they attended kept only a few months of each 
year. Abraham was a bright boy, but he learned most of 
his early lessons from his mother, who taught him Bible 
stories, folklore, and country legends. 

When Lincoln was still a young boy, the family moved 
to Indiana. Here the lad helped to make a clearing in the 
forest and build a log shelter. This new home was not 
much more than a shed with three walls and a roof. The 
open side served for window and door, and in front of it 
a fire was kept burning to shut out the cold in winter. The 
cooking was done over this open fire, but there was plenty 
to eat. The country abounded in game, so they had ven- 
ison, bear meat, turkey, and duck. Potatoes were easy 
to raise and could be baked in the hot ashes for every 
meal. 

204 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
THE YOUNG WORKER 



205 



When they had been in Indiana for about a year, Abra- 
ham's mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln, died. The two 
children were left alone with their father, but they never 
forgot thei"^ mother. Long years afterward Abraham 
said: 

"All that I am or hope to be I owe to my angel mother." 




THE CABIN IN WHICH LINCOLN LIVED WHEN A BOY 

After a time, Thomas Lincoln, the father, married 
again and their step-mother was kind and loving to the 
children. She was capable and industrious and brought 
many comforts to the poor home. A floor was put into 
the cabin which had taken the place of the shack, and 
a door and window were added. 

Abe, as he was often called, grew into a boy of unusual 
strength. He helped his father with the farm work, drove 
the oxen, felled trees, split rails, chopped wood, swung a 
sickle, sowed grain and threshed it, and worked in the 



206 BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 

carpenter shop. He was liked by the neighbors, for he was 
always kind and he had a fund of good stories and jokes 
which he was fond of telling. 

THE READER 

During all these years Lincoln had actually attended 
school no more than a year. But he had been reading, 
ever since his own mother taught him how, every book 
he could get. There were only a few of these books, but 
he read them over and over again and learned all he could 
from them. At night he sat beside the fire-place and read 
by the light of the flames. He did sums, too, with a 
piece of charcoal on a clean pine board. 

When he was a young man he made a trip on a flat 
boat down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. Soon 
after this he became a clerk in a general store in a little 
village of Illinois. His family had moved to Illinois and 
he had helped build the new home, but he was now past 
twenty-one and he wanted to start put for himself. 

His spare time was spent in study. When he found that 
he did not speak correctly, he got a grammar, studied it 
and practiced until he became a master of English. He 
then took up the study of law and worked at it alone until 
he became a lawyer. In 1837 we find him practicing law 
in Springfield, the capital of the new state of Illinois. 

THE LAWYER 

During the next twenty years Lincoln advanced steadily 
in his law practice until he was considered one of the best 
lawyers of his day. He had a clear logical mind and stated 
his cases simply. People trusted him because they believed 
in his honesty. If he thought a case right and just he 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 207 

would take it and do his best to win, but he refused to act 
for a man who was guilty. The important thing to Lincoln 
was not his fee as a lawyer but the finding out of the 
truth. He earned only a small amount of money, but it 
was enough co satisfy his simple tastes. 

A man once came to Lincoln to get him to start a suit 
for money owed him. Lincoln inquired into the case, and 
refused it, saying to the man : 

Yes, we could doubtless gain your case for you. We could set a 
whole neighborhood at loggerheads; we could distress a widowed 
mother and six fatherless children, thereby getting for you six 
hundred dollars to which you seem to have legal claim but which 
rightfully belongs, it seems to me, as much to the woman and her 
children as it does to you. You must remember, however, that some 
things legally right are not morally right. We shall not take 
your case, but we will give you a little advice for which we will 
charge you nothing. You seem to be a sprightly, energetic man. 
We would advise you to try your hand at making six hundred 
dollars in some other way. 

There were many such incidents, and often Lincoln 
was a peacemaker between men who were ready to go 
to law to settle a dispute. This moral honesty, added to 
his strict integrity in money matters, earned him the 
name "Honest Abe." 



SLAVERY 

The question of slave-holding had gradually come to 
divide the Northern states from the Southern. For a 
long time a strong feeling had been growing up that 
slavery was wrong and there were many people in the 
North who were determined to do away with it. Mean- 
while slavery in the South had increased. Instead of being 
made up of small farms, the South was cut up into great 
plantations which required the labor of hundreds of 



208 



BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 



slaves. The southern farmers said that without slave labor 
it would be impossible to raise their great crops of to- 
bacco, rice, and cotton. 

The slavery question was thus the principal issue be- 
tween the political parties. A prominent champion of 
slavery was Stephen A. Douglas. Lincoln took the stand 




LINCOLN'S HOME IN SPRINGFIELD 



that slavery in the United States should be ended. In 
1858 he and Douglas were candidates for the office of 
United States Senator from Illinois. 

A series of debates was arranged, in which both sides 
of the slavery question were discussed. These meetings 
were usually held out-of-doors and great crowds came to 
hear the two eloquent speakers debate the burning ques- 
tion. Douglas was elected senator, but Lincoln was recog- 
nized as the abler speaker. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 209 

PRESIDENT 

In 1859 Lincoln was nominated and elected President 
of the United States. Before he took office the disagree- 
ment about slavery had reached such a point that seven 
of the southern states had seceded. They claimed that 
any state belonged to the United States only so long as it 
chose to do so, and could withdraw from the Union if its 
legislature voted to withdraw. "This is what happened, 
and the states which had seceded set up a government of 
their own, called the Confederacy or Confederate Union. 

The North, on the other hand, claimed that these states 
had no right to withdraw from the Union, that they were 
simply rebelling against authority and must be brought 
back. The first purpose of the war, in President Lincoln's 
mind, was to bring the seven which had seceded back into 
the Union. Seven more states were hesitating and likely 
to go in with the Confederacy at any time. 

When the southern guns fired on Fort Sumter, in 
Charleston harbor, while it was defended by its northern 
garrison, all hope of peace disappeared. Lincoln called 
for 75,000 men to defend the Union and 90,000 answered. 
Meanwhile four other slave states, Arkansas, North 
Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee joined the Confederacy, 
which was already made up of South Carolina, Georgia, 
Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. 
Thus there were twenty-three northern states fighting 
against eleven in the South, all of which held slaves. The 
four remaining states were divided and did not come out 
for either side. 

THE CIVIL WAR 

This gave us our terrible Civil War, which lasted for 
four years. The first purpose of the war was to save the 



210 



BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 



Union, but in the end it was necessary to give the slaves 
their freedom. After the fight had gone on for years, 
Lincoln saw that the slaves were making it last longer 
for they stayed at home and raised food for the southern 

soldiers. The president 
therefore issued The 
Emancipation Proclama^ 
tion which announced 
that the negroes were 
freed, or emancipated, 
wherever the Union 
armies had gone. Even- 
tually this resulted in the 
freedom of all the slaves 
and in an amendment be- 
ing made to the Constitu- 
tion, so that slavery can 
never again exist any- 
where in the United 
States. 

Lincoln increased the 
navy as fast as possible 
and blockaded the south- 
ern ports — that is, pre- 
vented ships from passing in and out. The South raised 
cotton and rice and sugar and other things, but it had few 
manufactories. The slaves could work the great planta- 
tions and harvest the crops but they could not make cloth 
or shoes or machinery. So after a while, the crops were 
almost worthless because their owners could not sell them 
in the North, nor could ships from other countries get 
them, on account of the blockade. At the same time there 
was throughout the South the greatest scarcity of manu- 




LINCOLNS STATUE 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



211 



factured articles. This brought the whole South to a 
state of poverty and want. 

Grant and the other Northern generals had won im- 
portant battles, though victory was sometimes on the 
other side. Finally in April, 1865, the principal Southern 
armies surrendered and the war was over. 

During the four years 
of war Lincoln faced 
many difficult problems. 
His tall gaunt figure 
stooped a little ; his face, 
which had always worn a 
sad expression, took on 
deeper lines. He had no 
thought for himself; he 
felt always that he was in 
the service of the people. 
Even in freeing the 
slaves he did what he be- 
lieved best for the coun- 
try. He himself had seen 
some of the cruelties of 
the slave system when he 
made his river trip to 
New Orleans and he hated slavery. But he refused to act 
according to his own feelings and did not yield even when 
his generals urged him to do so until he was convinced 
that freeing the slaves would shorten the war. 




LINCOLN'S MONUMENT AT 
SPRINGFIELD 



HIS UNTIMELY DEATH 



Lincoln was re-elected and began his second term. He 
was looking forward to a reunited country and to helping 
build up the South as well as the North. After that he 



212 BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 

hoped to return to his home in Illinois and spend the rest 
of his life in peace and happiness with his wife and chil- 
dren, of whom he was very fond. 

April 14, 1865, just a few days after Lee's surrender, 
Lincoln went to the theater. He sat in the President's box 
enjoying a popular play. Suddenly a man slipped into 
the box, leaned over, and shot the President. 

This was part of a plot to kill all the chief men in the 
government. The assassin escaped for the time. Friends 
carried Lincoln across the street to a house and gave him 
every care. He lived through the night, but without be- 
coming conscious again. When all was over, Stanton, 
the Secretary of War in Lincoln's Cabinet, was heard to 
say, "Now he belongs to the ages. There lies the most 
perfect ruler of men the world has ever seen." 

Coming at a time when the country was filled with hope 
and gratitude for the end of the war, Lincoln's death was 
the more sad. The whole country was plunged into mourn- 
ing, and the South joined the North in lamenting the loss. 

"Who can be what he was to the people ; 
What he was to the state? 
Shall the ages bring us another 
As good and as great?" 

THE GREAT AMERICAN 

Had Lincoln been less wise, less patient, less temperate, 
less just, it might not have been possible for these United 
States to remain one country. Now North and South have 
grown together again and in the Great War soldiers from 
all the states went out together and fought as brothers. 

The names of Washington and Lincoln stand side by 
side. These two are the greatest figures in our history. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 213 

Washington won our independence, and Lincoln saved the 
Union. 

A great Auierican writer, Ralph Waldo Emerson, said 
of Lincoln : "He is the true history of the American peo- 
ple in his time, and the thoughts of their mind were 
uttered by his tongue." 

Lincoln was able to do such great work because he 
was so great a man. He knew everything well that he 
had ever studied; he had the keenest reasoning power. 
But he had, too, the ability to see the humorous side of 
things. His friends never forgot the good jokes he was 
always ready to tell. From a boy he had a most tender 
heart, and many stories are told of his kindness to ani- 
mals. Children loved him and went to him of their own 
will. One of his greatest pleasures was to play with his 
own children. He loved to read to them, and they took the 
greatest pleasure in his companionship. 

Topics for Review and Search 

1. What is the most interesting story about Lincoln that you 
have read anywhere? 

2. Compare Lincoln's childhood home with a modern house. 
What advantages did he have? 

3. Read the Gettysburg Address. 

4. What traits of Lincoln do you admire most? 

Suggested Supplementary Reading 

The True Story of Abraham Lincoln, Elbridge S. Brooks. 
lAfe of Abraham Lincoln for Boys and Girls, C. W. Moores. 
Boys' Life of Lincoln, Helen Nicolay. 
The Children's Life of Abraham Lincoln, M. Louise Putnam. 



WOMEN BUILDERS 

The great work performed by women in the war that ended 
in 1919 is a reminder that the community which we call the 
United States depends as much upon women as upon men. We 
have never felt before the power of this working together, 
this spirit of helping each other, as we have in the last few 
years. The war was one in which all the members of the 
community had a part. It was not so in earlier wars. In the 
Revolution, for example, by no means all of those living in 
America took part. Washington's army was made up of volun- 
teers, poorly fed, poorly clothed and equipped, and poorly 
paid. Thousands of Americans either opposed separation 
from England or were not interested. Even in the great war 
between the states there was no complete unity. But in the 
war with Germany this was not the case. Our armies were 
made of men who were selected from all the people. There 
were industrial armies also, men and women working in fac- 
tories and ship-yards, who aided in raising money for the 
government and for relief work, who produced food or saved it 
so that our allies might be fed. Every part of the great or- 
ganization was set at work to win the war. 

From this mutual aid we have learned great lessons. Amer- 
ica was formed to give every one a chance ; it was also formed 
so that every one should help to see that every one has this 
chance. 

In the old days a nation was the king; men and women and 
lands were his property. Now a nation is an association of 
men and women who are free but who join together to secure 
for themselves the greatest happiness and security. 

In this work, women have as sure and important a part as 
men. They also are citizens. This fact has come about in the 
same way that men won the right to govern themselves, by 
women proving that they, also, are able to govern themselves. 

214 



WOMEN BUILDERS 215 

How women have helped in this business of making the 
United States a great association for mutual happiness and 
mutual aid is told in the stories that follow. They are stories 
of some of the great women of America who led the way. 

Topics for Review and Search 

1. In what respects was the World War like the Revolutionary 
and Civil Wars? How different? 

2. How are women citizens? What duties do both men and 
w^omen have as citizens of the United States? 

3. Are there as many ways of showing patriotism in time of 
peace as in wartime? Name some ways of being patriotic today. 

4. Name some other women who have been builders of our 
nation besides the four you will read about here. 

Suggested Supplementary Reading 

Successful Women, Sarah K. Bolton. 

Heroines of Service, Mary R. Parkman. 

Some Successful Am,ericans, Sherman Williams. 



MARY LYON (1797-1849) 

Mary Lyon has an important place in history because 
she founded the first woman's college in the United States. 
Only a few years after the colonies themselves were started 
Harvard and Yale colleges were begun. Other colleges 
followed, but men only could attend these schools. No 
women were admitted. Mary Lyon saw that if we were 
to become a great nation we must make higher education 
possible for girls as well as for boys. 

Mary Lyon was born among the Berkshire Hills, in 
Massachusetts, February 28, 1797. Her childhood home 
was on a hill, so that she had a wide view of the country 
round about. When she was five years old her father died, 
leaving her mother almost penniless with seven children. 
Mrs. Lyon managed the little farm and they all worked 
early and late. 

Mary had few opportunities for education. When she 
could she attended the village school, but much oftener 
she studied alone. Not until she was twenty-one was she 
free to do what she had always wanted to do — attend 
school regularly. 

She had earned and saved enough money to pay for 
one term at Sanderson Academy. Before the end of the 
first term the trustees granted her free tuition for an- 
other term, because of her remarkable work. Never had 
the school had a student with such an intellect. 

When she left the Academy, she began her work as a 

216 



MARY LYON 



217 



teacher. At the same time she studied constantly in her 
spare hours and her vacations. Literature, languages, 
sciences, even drawing and painting she taught herself. 
Always she had the longing to study these things under 
some of the great teachers of the day. But no such chance 
could come to Mary Lyon, 
for in those days not only 
were there no higher insti- 
tutions of learning for 
women, but none of the 
men's colleges would ad- 
mit women students. This 
state of things seemed 
unjust and she began 
forming a plan which was 
one day to bestow upon 
her the gratitude of think- 
ing American women. 

When she was twenty- 
four years old she spent a 
year at a school in Byfield, 
which prepared young 
women to teach. The principal. Reverend Joseph Emer- 
son, had a great and lasting influence on this pupil of his. 
Hes impressed upon his students the idea that the object 
of an education was to fit one to do good. Mary Lyon 
never forgot this, but always acted upon it. 

The next year she went to teach in Sanderson Academy, 
where she had once been a pupil, and the year after she 
became assistant to the principal — the first woman who 
ever held this position. For the next few years she taught 
in this academy in the winters and in another school in 
New Hampshire during the summer months. She then 




MARY LYON 



218 BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 

went to Ipswich, Massachusetts, where she taught for six 
years. During this time the school at Ipswich became the 
largest and most successful girls' school in the country. 

Still Mary Lyon was not satisfied. An academy was 
similar in rank to the high schools of that time. She 
wanted girls to have more than these schools could give. 
She wanted to give them the mental training young men 
had. With this purpose she set out to found a college for 
women. Such an undertaking would even now require a 
great deal of effort, but at that time few would have under- 
taken it. The first woman's college, Mount Holyoke, was 
built only after years of the hardest struggle on the part 
of Mary Lyon. Few men or women thought that a woman 
needed higher education. Many laughed at the idea of a 
woman's college. They thought it would be folly to put 
thousands of dollars into such a school. 

Cheerfully Mary Lyon went from house to house col- 
lecting funds for the new school. She went first to women 
and appealed to their patriotism. She soon had a thou- 
sand dollars. She continued her work of securing gifts 
and pledges of money until, in October, 1836, she had 
enough to start a building. 

One year later Mount Holyoke Seminary was opened. 
More than three hundred students from all over the 
country had applied for admission, while there was room 
for only eighty-five. It was three years before there were 
buildings enough to care for two hundred and fifty 
students. From that time on. Mount Holyoke has grown 
steadily. 

Mary Lyon's plan was to place education within the 
reach of the poor girl. The rates for board and lodging 
at Mt. Holyoke were therefore made as low as possible. 
In order to reduce expenses and at the same time treat 



MARY LYON 



219 



all the girls alike, it was arranged that each girl should 
take some part in carrying on the work of the school. 
So the girls waited on table, made beds, or taught classes, 
when not devoting their time to classroom work. 





I I! ^ I I El I I H J 
B I II I H E]__l I i 




r^^r^jmiz^V^-IWxc':, 






MOUNT HOLYOKE IN 1837 

Mary Lyon lived only twelve years after her dream 
of a v^oman-s college became a reality. But m this time 
she had trained many students. About two- birds of 
hese became teachers and carried on her spirit and her 
ideals Her death was as unselfish as her life. A con- 
aSs disease spread through the school and she nursed 
the pupils herself. In the end she took it and died. 

She is buried in the college grounds, and on her tomb- 
stone are these words, taken from her last address to her 

'*" The*re is nothing in the universe that I fear but that I 
shall not know all my duty, or fail to do it.' 



220 



BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 




MARY LYON CHAPEL AND ADMINISTRATION HALL — ONE 
NUMEROUS BUILDINGS WHICH NOW MAKE UP 
MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE 



MARY LYON 221 

THE BUILDER OF A COLLEGE 

We saw the pioneers leave the settled regions in the 
East, and make new homes for themselves in the wilder- 
ness. Mary Lyon was a pioneer in education. She had no 
woman's college or university by which she could plan 
hers. She had to make her own plans and work out her 
own methods. That she succeeded so well is proof of her 
ability and tireless industry. 

By the establishment of Mount Holyoke she began all 
the higher education of women in America. In a few 
years other colleges for women were founded — Smith, 
Vassar, and Wellesley. Then the state universities were 
opened and women could attend these on an equal footing 
with men. Now there is no sort of training or education 
that a woman cannot have. Every advanced or honorary 
degree given to men is also conferred on women. This 
is the crown of Mary Lyon's work. 

Topics for Review and Search 

1. What sort of girl was Mary Lyon? 

2. At the time when she was growing up, what was it considered 
most necessary for a girl to learn — the knowledge gained from 
books, or how to do things in the household? 

3. Why is it no longer necessary for women to spin and weave 
or to make candles and soap at home? 

4. Today is a college education possible for any girl in America 
who really wants it? 

Suggested Supplementary Reading 

American Pioneers, W. A. Mowry and Blanche S. Mowry 
(p. 279). 

Women Who Win, William M. Thayer (p. 142). 



CLARA BARTON (1830-1912) 

Clara Barton nursed, cheered, and saved thousands of 
sick and wounded on the battlefields of America and 
Europe. No truer words of prophecy were ever spoken 
than those of a friend of the Barton family when he said 
of her as a little girl, "She will never assert herself 
for herself. She will suffer wrong first. But for others 
she will be perfectly fearless. Throw responsibility on 
her." 

Clara Barton was born in Oxford, Massachusetts, in 
1830. As a child she was sensitive and retiring except 
when she was doing something for others. An older 
brother injured himself at play so that for two years his 
life was despaired of. His little sister was his constant 
nurse and companion during the entire time. 

Writing later of this period of her life Clara Barton 
said, "I almost forgot there was an outside to the house." 

When Clara was fourteen years of age she was sent 
to a boarding school but she became so homesick that 
she could not stay. On her return her education was 
continued under a private tutor. When she was sixteen 
she began teaching in Millward, a little town not far from 
Oxford. 

She spent the next few years teaching in various towns, 
and everywhere she proved an exceptional teacher. 

At the age of twenty this eager student entered Clin- 
ton Institute in New York. When she graduated she was 

222 



CLARA BARTON 



223 



persuaded to take a very difficult school in Bardstown. 
The school authorities could find no teacher able to manage 
the unruly children who were running wild about the 
streets. "Give me 
three months," she 
said, "and I will teach 
free." School was 
started, but only six 
of the truant pupils 
appeared. At the end 
of five weeks every 
child in town was beg- 
ging entrance, and the 
authorities had to put 
up a large new school 
to accommodate them 
all. Miss Barton 
taught with a loving 
sympathy and conta- 
gious interest that won 
her the lasting love 
and enthusiasm of her 
pupils. Her strength 
was, however, overtaxed, her voice gave way, and she was 
compelled to leave the school. 

After a short rest she secured a position in the patent 
office at Washington. While she was there the Civil War 
broke out. Clara Barton saw, among the first troops to 
pass through the capital, young men whom she had taught 
as little boys a few years before. She now determined to 
devote herself to the needs of her country. No soldier's 
heart ever beat with nobler patriotism than did that of 
Clara Barton. In the early days of the struggle when 




CLARA BARTON 



224 BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 

Washington was fearing an attack she said, "I think the 
city will be attacked within the next sixty days, and when 
there is no longer a soldier's arm to raise the Stars and 
Stripes above our Capitol, may God give strength to 
mine !" 

Her quick mind saw instantly what the greatest need 
was — care for the sick and wounded soldiers who were 
constantly brought to Washington. Day after day she 
collected supplies and wrote for more. Personally she 
met trainloads of soldiers, took them to hospitals, and 
saw them taken proper care of. But a greater work now 
loomed before her. She knew that on the battlefields were 
thousands of wounded soldiers who would die before they 
could be brought to Washington. Still other thousands 
were dying because there was no way of caring for them. 
She decided to go herself to the fields of battle. Permis- 
sion was granted her by the government, and Clara Bar- 
ton became the first woman in America to care for sol- 
diers on the firing line. 

For four years this faithful patriot and devoted nurse 
endured without flinching the most dreadful hardships 
of the battlefield and witnessed the frightful horrors 
that war brings. From one scene of battle to another she 
went, sometimes for days without rest or enough food. 
But the prediction made of her in her childhood days had 
come true. The greatest of all responsibilities was hers 
— that of caring for her country's wounded — and in this 
work of sacrifice no woman ever rose to greater heights. 
She continued this great work through the years in the 
face of sadly inadequate equipment, supplies, and assist- 
ance. 

At the end of the war it was discovered that there 
were 80,000 men unaccounted for. To Miss Barton was 



CLARA BARTON 225 

assigned the difficult task of tracing these soldiers. 
Everywhere she searched prison records, state records, 
and burying grounds. In addition she had lists of names 
of the missing men posted in public places with a request 
for information from any source. Soon returns began 
to come. One man alone brought the names of 13,000 
of his comrades who had perished at Andersonville. Miss 
Barton now hastened to Andersonville where she watched 
over the burial of 12,800 bodies. In'her diary she says, 
"I saw the little graves marked, blessed them for the 
heartbroken mother in the old Northern home, raised 
over them the flag they loved and died for, and left them 
to their rest." 

The government voted her a sum of money for her 
expenses but more was needed to complete the task. To 
raise this sum Miss Barton undertook a course of three 
hundred lectures. At the beginning of one of the lectures 
her voice suddenly gave way, and she was taken home 
in a state of physical collapse. A few months later she 
was ordered by her physician to go to Europe for three 
years of absolute rest. 

Scarcely had she arrived in Europe when the War of 
1870, between Germany and France, began. Forgetting 
the words of her physician she hurried to the front. Her 
fame had spread before her in Europe, and everywhere 
she went she was hailed with joy, and honors were con- 
ferred on her. 

To her great happiness she found in Europe an inter- 
national organization for the "Relief of the Wounded in 
War," called the "Red Cross Society." Already twenty- 
two nations had united in this work. 

Under the Red Cross, Miss Barton worked on battle- 
fields and in besieged cities, caring for the sick and 



226 



BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 



wounded, and clothing and feeding the stricken inhabi- 
tants of fallen cities and districts. Before she left for 
America she was as much loved in Europe as at home. 

On her return to her native land the one idea in her 
mind was the founding of the Red Cross in America. 
She presented her petition to President Hayes, but he 




RED CROSS WORKERS ON A BATTLEFIELD 



referred it to the Secretary of State, who rejected it. 
Nevertheless Miss Barton was gaining ground with the 
people. She talked much and wrote much about the Red 
Cross and everywhere found interested readers and ready 
listeners. 

When Garfield became President she had great hopes 
of winning him for the cause because he had known and 
admired her work in the Civil war. Unfortunately he 
died when the matter was under consideration and again 
the day of the adoption of the Red Cross was postponed. 

One of the objections to the movement was that the 



CLARA BARTON 



227 



United States was at peace, and it was considered doubt- 
ful if there would ever again be war. The greatness of 
Clara Barton now showed itself more than ever before. 
She said that the Red Cross should be active not only in 
times of war but in times of peace when the country or 




FEEDING VICTIMS OF A GREAT DISASTER 

any part of it suffered from flood, fire, famine, wreck, or 
other calamity. 

The happiest day, perhaps, in Miss Barton's life was 
July 26, 1882, when President Arthur signed the Red 
Cross Treaty, thus adding the name of the United States 
to the great international organization. The Red Cross 
in Europe had been founded to give relief in times of 
war, but when America joined, Clara Barton's amend- 
ment that it should work in peace times during national 



228 BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 

disasters was voted on and accepted. Miss Barton was 
chosen first president of the American Red Cross, 

For thirty years she directed the work of the Red Cross 
in America. There were fires and floods and storms, in 
each of which the Red Cross brought aid and encourage- 
ment to the stricken people. She sent aid to Russia at the 
time of the great famine in 1890. When she was seventy- 
five years old, she herself went to Armenia to help the 
Christians who were starving and suffering in every way 
under Turkish rule. 

In the year 1902, at the age of seventy-two, Miss Barton 
was sent to represent the United States at a meeting of 
the International Red Cross in St. Petersburg, Russia. 
Her address was received with great applause and the 
Russian Decoration of the Order of the Red Cross was 
conferred on her. 

Clara Barton's last years were spent at her country 
home at Glen Echo, near Washington. At her death in 
1912, she was probably the best known, as well as the 
most loved woman in the world. 

OUR NATION'S DEBT TO CLARA BARTON 

Clara Barton was called "the angel of the battlefields," 
and we like , to remember her kindness to the wounded 
soldiers. The greatest thing she did was organizing the 
Red Cross society in America and getting the United 
States to join the other nations in this work. This gave 
our country opportunities for service. When any part of 
the United States needs help, the whole country can help 
that part. When any country of the world needs help, the 
other countries can help that one. The best illustration of 
this came in the great World War of 1914-19. The United 



CLARA BARTON 229 

States was able to send supplies of all kinds, ambulances, 
and nurses, through the Red Cross, during the time before 
we entered the war. It was Clara Barton's work which 
made this possible. 

Topics for Review and Search 

1. When Clara Barton was young, were there schools for 
nurses, as there are now? 

2. What did the Red Cross Society do in the World War of 
1914-1919? 

3. How is the Red Cross Society everjrwhere regarded now? 

4. Find out all you can about the Junior Red Cross Society. 
Mention several things its members did to help during the recent 
great war. 

Suggested Supplementary Reading 

The Story of My Life, Clara Harlowe Barton. 
Ten American Girls from History, Kate Dickinson Sweetser 
(p. 143). 
The Light-Bring ers, Mary H. Wade (p. 64). 



FRANCES E. WILLARD (1839-1898) 



Frances E. Willard was born September 28, 1839, in 
Churchville, New York, of educated and religious 
parents. When she was two years old the family moved 
to Oberlin, Ohio, but after five years the father's health 
broke down, and he and his brave wife determined to 
seek health and happiness for themselves and their three 

children by going to 
the territory of 
Wisconsin. 

For thirty days 
they traveled in a 
covered wagon 
through the wilder- 
ness. They passed 
the small village of 
Chicago, turned 
north into Wisconsin, and settled on the banks of the 
Rock River, about four miles from the village of Janesville. 
Here it was that this pioneer family cleared the forest 
and built their little "Forest Home," which became a model 
farm for miles around. The whole family loved the wild- 
ness of the life around them and all grew strong and hardy 
in the freedom of the out-of-doors. 

The Willards had no near neighbors, nor was there a 
school near enough to attend, so that the children had 
no playmates, and no teachers but their parents. But 

230 




FOREST HOME 



FRANCES E. WILLARD 231 

they were well trained. No pupils ever had more sympa- 
thetic or devoted teachers; and the lack of other play- 
mates made the children inventive and self-reliant. Their 
childhood was a most happy one, made up of hard work, 
hard play, and hard study. 

By the time Frances was fourteen she had read every- 
thing in the family library, including Shakespeare, the 
Bible, Whittier, books of travel and adventure, histories, 
and biographies. She was much interested in politics and 
eagerly read the few magazines and newspapers of the 
day. 

STUDENT AND TEACHER 

Just about this time, through Mr. Willard's influence, 
a little schoolhouse was built only a mile from his home, 
• and a Yale graduate hired as teacher. Great was the 
excitement on the day Frances and her sister Mary started 
for their first school. At the end of this year they went 
to a school in Janesville for some months and then spent 
a year at what is now Milwaukee-Downer College. Fran- 
ces was an eager, brilhant student, a dehght to her 
teachers and a joy to her classmates, among whom she 
was a leader. 

When Frances was nineteen years of age her father de- 
cided to send the two girls to Northwestern College at 
Evanston, Illinois. It was here that Frances determined 
to become a teacher, not because she felt that she would 
particularly enjoy teaching, but because she had an in- 
tense longing to do something of importance in the great 
world, and teaching seemed the only thing for a woman. 

After graduation Frances went to teach the Harlem 
School, which was some twenty miles from Chicago. 




232 BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 

Teaching in a country school in those pioneer days was 
not an easy task, but for Frances, who had always loved 
adventure, the days passed very happily. 

V The next twelve years of her 

life were spent teaching in 

girls' schools and colleges in 

various parts of the country. 
She was an earnest, enthusi- 
astic, and sympathetic teacher 
and did much to raise the stand- 

THE HARLEM SCHOOL 

ard of education for women. 
She became the first president of the Evanston College 
for Ladies and during her three years as its head the 
school grew and prospered. 

THE CRUSADE OF THE W. C. T. U. 

While Miss Willard was in the Evanston college, women • 
all over the country began to form a band of workers 
for the purpose of preventing the sale of liquor. The 
organization carried on the "Woman's Temperance Cru- 
sade." When representatives of the movement came to 
Chicago Miss Willard was thoroughly aroused to the 
greatness of the cause, and gave it her encouragement 
and assistance. 

She was an eloquent speaker, and she began to deliver 
addresses in behalf of the cause. The work soon be- 
came so hard that she gave up her teaching position to 
devote her entire time to it. She did this knowing that 
her work was to be without pay. Shortly after this there 
came to her on the same day the offer of two positions — 
the one as principal of a girls' private school at $2,500 a 
year; the other the presidency of the Chicago branch of 
the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. As she was 



PRANCES E. WILLARD 233 

entirely dependent on herself for support, her friends 
advised her to accept the school position. She declined it 
and turned to the place where she knew she was needed, 
saying: 

"I have felt that great promotion came to me when 
I was counted worthy to be a worker in the organized 
crusade for God and home and native land." 

SUFFRAGE FOR WOMEN 

From 1879 until her death Miss Willard was president 
of the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union. 
Miss Willard felt that prohibition must be won by the 
women of our country. But how could that ever come 
to pass when women did not have the privilege of voting ? 
Her answer to this question was the setting out on 
another crusade that was to march hand in hand with 
the temperance work — the battle that was to end in 
giving women the right to vote. 

THE SPEAKER 

Her work took her upon lecture tours all over the 
United States, and by her eloquence she persuaded thou- 
sands of people to believe in the right of women to vote. 
In 1881 she made her first trip to the South. After this 
trip, which was most successful, she said, "Northern and 
southern bayonets shall point the same way; and the 
initials of W. C. T. U. shall stand for the words, *We come 
to unite.' " A few years later she was made president of 
the first International Temperance Union, in a meeting at 
Boston at which were representatives from all over the 
world. The women of other countries had been aroused 
by letters from Miss Willard urging upon them the im- 
portance of prohibition, the lack of which had allowed 



234 



BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 



families without number to be wrecked every year. In the 
year 1883 Miss Willard visited every state and territory in 
the country and started societies in all of them, speaking 
in every town of ten thousand people and over, and travel- 
ing over thirty thousand miles. Frances Willard was the 

busiest woman in the 
United States, "but it 
is better to wear out 
than to rust out," she 
would say when 
urged to rest. She 
made speeches every- 
where, even talking 
from the rear of the 
train at all the sta- 
tions, where eager 
crowds waited to 
hear her. 

The society grew 
to such proportions 
that in 1885 it had 
forty different 
branches and num- 
berless departments. Miss Willard herself was the real 
organizer of every branch and the originator of every de- 
partment. She worked tirelessly. Besides attending to 
her actual duties, she studied political science in order to 
bring to people an understanding of making laws that 
would benefit mankind, assisted in the editing of two 
journals, wrote several books, established the National 
Temperance Hospital, and kept up a large correspondence. 
She always seemed to find the time to do things, how- 
ever many or difficult, that were good. 




FRANCES WILLARD 



FRANCES E. WILLARD 235 

She died in 1898, called by her followers the most loved 
woman in America. 



AN ADVOCATE OF EQUAL RIGHTS 

Frances Willard was an earnest reformer. She set out 
to make the United States a better country to live in. 
Her courageous fight against the drinking and selling of 
liquor helped to get laws passed for prohibition. She 
helped also to start temperance education, so people would 
learn how injurious the use of liquor is. Feeling that 
women would all vote for temperance, she took up the 
cause of woman's suffrage, and did a great deal to gain 
equal rights for women. In these ways she became a 
maker of the nation. 

Topics for Review and Search 

1. In what ways were Mary Lyon and Frances Willard alike? 

2. What two great reforms that Miss Willard worked for have 
now taken place? 

3. Why was Frances Willard loved by people all over the 
world? 

4. What two qualities must a person have to succeed in carrying 
out any great undertaking? 

Suggested Supplementary Reading 

A Group of Famous Women, Edith Horton (p. 199). 

Heroines of Service, Mary R. Parkman (p. 89). 

Some Successful Americans, Sherman Williams (p. 89). 



JANE ADDAMS (1860 ) 

Jane Addams spent her childhood on a farm near the 
small town of Cedarville, Illinois. Her father was the 
village miller, and she liked to go to the mill with him and 
see the grain made into flour. 

Her home was a comfortable farm-house with wide, 
open spaces around it. When she saw small houses 
crowded together in a city, she asked her father why 
people lived in dirty, ugly places. She was not satisfied 
with his answer, and said, "When I grow up I shall have 
a large house but it will not be built among other large 
houses. It will be right in the midst of the horrid little 
houses." 

She was not strong as a child, and became sensitive 
and thoughtful. She had a dreadful fear of doing wrong, 
and once, when she had told a lie, she could not sleep. She 
crept down the dark stairs, through the still darker hall, 
and found her father. When she had confessed her sin, 
he said, "If I have a little girl who told a lie, I am glad 
that she feels too badly to go to sleep afterwards." 

Jane admired her father greatly and felt unworthy to 
be his child. She considered him tall and handsome and 
herself undersized and ugly. She imagined he was ashamed 
of her and did not want people to know she was his child. 
She would shp out of church and walk home with her 
uncle so her father would not have to walk with her. But 
one day when she had gone alone to the village she met 

236 



JANE ADDAMS 237 

her father, unexpectedly. He was talking with several 
men but he stopped to smile at her and bow politely. This 
delighted the shy child and helped her to realize that her 
father was her good friend. 

As Jane grew older he talked over with her the events 
of the day. He encouraged her studies, especially history. 
Once to increase her interest he offered her five cents for 
every account she could give of a Greek hero, and ten for 
her story of the life of any signer of the Declaration of 
Independence. The offer was eagerly accepted, for it made 
history a game. 

She went to the village school and studied hard. She 
always planned to go to college, and when she was seven- 
teen she entered Rockford College. While there she 
planned to study medicine and she did begin a medical 
course. But she was not strong enough for this work, 
and had to give it up. 

HER TRIP TO EUROPE 

After she had grown stronger she took a trip to Europe 
with a friend, Miss Ellen Gates Starr. They made great 
plans for sightseeing in the Old World. They wanted 
especially to visit the spots of historic interest and see 
the paintings and statuary. But in the first large city 
they visited, Jane Addams found poverty and suffering 
greater than she had ever dreamed of. So impressed with 
this was she that she lost interest in travel merely for 
enjoyment. She felt she must do something to make 
life better for the very poor and she came back to 
America. Two years later she went abroad again, but 
this time it was to study how she could best help the poor 
people. 



238 



BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 



HULL HOUSE 

Jane Addams turned to Chicago because she felt the 
poor in a great city were so much worse off than those in 
smaller places. She and Miss Starr found a large house 

surrounded by tene- 
ment buildings occu- 
pied mostly by for- 
eigners. Once it had 
stood alone in a large 
yard but the city had 
gradually grown up 
around it. 

This house had 
been built by a Mr. 
Hull and was still 
called the Hull house. 
Miss Addams and 
her friend went to 
live in it. Because 
they settled there to 
live among the poor 
people, it was called 
a settlement. 

A few repairs were 
all that was needed to 
make it a pleasant home. There was a cheerful big fire- 
place in the large hall which they took for a living-room. 
Miss Addams added to the furnishings pictures and books 
of her own to make it as homelike as possible. It was 
ready and opened in September, 1889. 

There was a two-fold purpose in the Hull House plan. 
The House was first of all to be a friendly home for the 




JANE ADDAMS 



JANE ADDAMS 239 

poor neighbors, a place where they could find comfort and 
happiness. These neighbors were mostly immigrant 
families who had only recently come to America. Their 
lot was hard to hear, especially in the case of the women 
and children. The men soon found work and gradually 
learned enough English to understand and be understood. 
But the women had to stay at home and work hard in 
these strange surroundings. Usually there were several 
little children. To be transplanted from the country into 
a big city of another land was a great change, and 
these women needed to learn about the different living 
conditions. They needed to know how to cook the strange 
foods, how to get about on street cars, how to care for 
their babies in the city. They needed very much to learn 
English so they could talk with their neighbors, who had 
come from some other foreign country. Most of all they 
needed friends who would teach them these things and 
show them how to be good Americans. This is what the 
residents of Hull House intended to do. 

The second object of the settlement was to furnish op- 
portunities for service. Men and women responded en- 
thusiastically to the idea, and Hull House was soon filled 
with eager teachers and workers. 

By visiting their neighbors in a friendly way the Hull 
House workers were able to get them to improve their 
ways of living. The settlement offered games, reading 
and parties to give the young people entertainment and 
the right sort of fun. The beauty of the House itself was 
a constant appeal to the visitors' artistic natures. Best 
of all, the neighbors felt that the residents at the settle- 
ment had a sympathetic interest in their lives, and that 
they had found friends in this strange land. 



240 



BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 



EDUCATIONAL WORK 

Through her work among the immigrants, Miss Ad- 
dams came to reaUze their longing for knowledge. Some 
of the people who had come to live and work at Hull 
House were young men and women just out of college. 
Eagerly they set to work to organize literary clubs and 
classes for study. They had a Shakespeare, a Browning, 
and a Dante club. One day a foreign woman told Miss 
Addams that her mind was so filled with Shakespeare's 
characters during her long hours of sewing in a shop that 




A CORNER IN THE ROYS' LIBRARY AT HULL 
HOUSE 

she could not remember what she thought about before 
she joined the club. 

There was a reading circle where they read and talked 
over good books. This was of great help to the foreigners 
in speaking and understanding English. There were also 
clubs in which they discussed politics. These discussions 
helped the immigrants to understand the means of gov- 
ernment in America, and to be better citizens. 



JANE ADDAMS 241 

There was a kindergarten for the little children, and 
a day nursery for the still younger ones. Many of these 
mothers went out to work by the day, and had been 
obliged to leave their little children at home alone. Some 
terrible accidents had resulted, children had fallen and 
others had burned themselves. How gladly these working 
mothers must have welcomed a place where their children 
could be safe and happy while they were away ! 

There were clubs for boys where they learned wood- 
carving, metal work, photography, printing, and shoe 
repairing. The girls had courses in cooking, sewing, and 
millinery. 

Jane Addams did not forget that people all need good, 
wholesome fun. Hull House was open to the neighbor- 
hood and here they gave their parties and their enter- 
tainments. There were dances, concerts, and children's 
parties. 

NEIGHBORHOOD IMPROVEMENTS 

Soon the work spread throughout the neighborhood. 
Living conditions in these tenements were bad. There 
were filth and darkness and there were flies. Jane Addams 
began a systematic cleaning-up of the whole district. She 
took upon herself the disagreeable task of garbage in- 
spection. With volunteer club women to help she appealed 
to the city council and got the streets paved. Some of 
the worst houses were torn down and room made for a 
public playground for the children. Healthful plumbing 
was insisted upon everywhere. 

A gymnasium was built as a part of the settlement, 
which soon came to consist of a number of buildings. In 
one there were pictures — copies of the world's great 



242 BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 

masterpieces — and photographs of famous buildings. 
This art gallery formed a connecting link for the immi- 
grant between the old home and the new, for many of 
them were familiar with the art galleries of Europe. 

A MAKER OF AMERICANS 

The goal of all Jane Addams's plans is the making of 
Americans, and it is because of this that she stands among 
the Builders of Our Nation. No one can ever know how 
many sick babies have been saved by the workers from 
Hull House, how many boys and girls have been taught 
to love America and appreciate the opportunities our 
country offers to them, or how many men and women 
have become good citizens through her efforts. 

Topics for Review and Search 

1. Find out about some other women and some men who have 
given their lives to helping the poor. 

2. Do you think these four women — Mary Lyon, Clara Barton, 
Frances Willard, and Jane Addams — all had the same idea, to 
make the world a better place to live in? Compare the work of 
Jane Addams with that of each of the others. 

3. What is meant by a settlement? Are settlements needed in 
towns and villages, as well as in cities? Give reasons for your 
answer. 

4. We have in the United States many people who were born 
in other countries but have come here to live. What can we do 
to help them become good Americans? 

Suggested Supplementary Reading 

Twenty Years at Hull House, Jane Addams. 
The Wonder-Workers, Mary H. Wade (p. 121). 
Heroines of Service, Mary R. Parkman (p. 297). 
The Child's Book of American Biography, Mary S. Stimpson 
(p. 222). 



A GREAT AMERICAN 

It is hard to make a picture in our minds of what the Ameri- 
can idea of government really is. We know that our citizens 
have a right to vote for the men they desire to represent them 
in matters of government — the city council, and the mayor, the 
man who goes to the state legislature, and the governor, and 
the members of Congress, and the president. Since the citizens 
have this right, our government has been called a government 
of the people, by the people, and for the people. 

Besides this right of sharing in the government, we know 
that Americans have the privilege of doing as they please in 
regard to their business or profession, provided they observe 
rules, or laws, that have been made by their own representa- 
tives. Any man who has brains and skill may make what he 
wishes out of himself. His rights are preserved by our 
courts; his property is safe; he is free to live where he 
pleases; he may change his work or business as he likes. 

But while we know all these things, and know that they are 
reasons why America has been called the home of the free, 
and reasons, too, why poor people from other less happy lands 
have come to America where they might find freedom, it is 
still true that we find it hard to make a picture in our minds 
of what America really means. 

One way to do it is to think of men who represent what 
America stands for. In fact, that is just what we have been 
doing all through this book. But while two or three men, 
men like Washington or Jefferson or Lincoln, for example, 
seem to represent all America, most of our great men repre- 
sent just certain things that have entered into the making of 
America, and do not give us an idea of America as a whole. 
And as the country has grown in wealth and population and 
extent of its possessions, and as our life has become more 

243 



244 BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 

various and has lost the simplicity of colonial or revolution- 
ary days, it has become even more difficult to find a man of 
whom we may say, "This man is a typical American ; he sums 
up all that America means to me." 

A man of more recent years who is certain to stand out more 
and more as one of the representatives of the American idea 
is Theodore Roosevelt. He appeals to the American love of 
sport, of adventure, of dangerous journeys undertaken on 
frontiers and in the wilderness. He appeals also to the 
American love of many-sidedness, the interest in all sorts of 
occupations. He was a man who did many things well. He 
also appeals to the American love of the man who does big 
things, builds a great business, carries through some gigantic 
task. And he stands also for American interest in govern- 
ment and politics, for efficient government and clean politics. 
Finally, he was a representative of American courage and 
hope and good spirits. Life was a joy to him. He found 
pleasure in all that he did. He seemed to gather in himself 
all the youth and daring and sportsmanship and honor that 
we think of as American. 

Topics for Review and Search 

1. Name the presidents you have read about in this book. 

2. What other men who helped in the government of our coun- 
try are told about in this book? 

Suggested Supplementary Reading 

Winning Their Way, J. T. Faris. 
Successful Americans, Sherwin Williams. 



THEODORE ROOSEVELT (1858-1919) 

Theodore Roosevelt had a very different boyhood from 
that of some of the great men we have read about. He 
was born in the largest city of the United States, October 
27, 1858. His parents were well-to-do; he had a devoted 
aunt and a fond grandmother hving near; and had a 
brother and two sisters, as well as several cousins, for 
playmates. While he did not have an uphill fight against 
poverty or the hardships of pioneer life, his boyhood was 
a struggle. From babyhood he suffered with asthma, 
which made his breathing difficult, and at times almost 
impossible. His health was so uncertain that he was not 
able to attend school regularly. He went to a private 
school near home for less than a year, but he did a great 
deal of solid reading and had teachers at home. 

THE YOUNG NATURALIST 

Theodore took to reading very early, and Livingstone's 
Travels is said to have been his favorite book when he was 
so small that he could scarcely carry the big volume. With 
his love for books he had the greatest fondness for ani- 
mals. At nine he started what he called "The Roosevelt 
Museum of Natural History." At this time he was greatly 
interested in a seal which he saw in the market. He stud- 
ied ants and spiders and other insects, and wrote down his 
observations in a notebook which he called "Natural his- 
tory on insects." His summers were spent in the country, 
where he had all sorts of animals for pets — cats, dogs, rab- 

245 



246 



BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 



bits, a raccoon, and a loved pony called General Grant. He 
studied birds and animals and learned taxidermy that he 
might mount and preserve his specimens. When he was 
fourteen, his father took him with his brother and sisters 

on a trip through 
Egypt. Here The- 
odore's chief inter- 
est was in collect- 
ing birds, and he 
brought back some 
stuffed birds which 
are still preserved 
in museums. 

By reading, and 
studying with tu- 
tors, he prepared 
himself for Har- 
vard, where he 
was graduated 
with honor in 
1880. 

He still had at- 
tacks of asthma, 
and was not as 
strong as he wished, though he had greatly improved 
his health by regular gymnastic exercises and boxing. In 
the summer of 1883 he went to Dakota, thinking the dry 
air might relieve his asthma. He hoped also for a chance 
to shoot buffalo, herds of which still roamed over the 
western plains. He traveled on until he got beyond cities 
and even towns — on until there was nothing but prairie 
with a railroad track stretching across it. 

After he left the train he rode several miles farther, on 




THEODORE ROOSEVELT 



THEODORE ROOSEVELT 247 

horseback, to a ranch called the Chimney Butte. The one- 
room house was built of logs with a sod roof, and its occu- 
pants were three men, all strangers to Roosevelt. They 
were ranchmen with a herd of cattle of their own ; and they 
volunteered to show the young Easterner some buffalo 
hunting. 

A BUFFALO HUNT 

The great herds of buffalo had already been driven out 
of this region, but buffaloes were still to be found, a few in 
a place. Roosevelt and one of the men started out and 
rode all day, seeing buffaloes several times. Twice they 
fired at single animals, but these escaped. 

The two men rode over rough country, for the prairie 
was broken by irregular hills called buttes. The day was 
hot and there was neither shade nor cool water. For lunch 
they had a hard cracker dipped in muddy water ; for sup- 
per, a cracker without water. While trying to creep up 
on a buffalo, Roosevelt got his hands stuck full of cactus 
spines. 

At night they lay down to sleep in the open. There was 
not a tree or a bush in sight, so they tied the horses to the 
saddles, which they used for pillows. Some time after- 
wards they were awakened by a wild jerk, and saw their 
mounts dashing off, dragging the saddles. A wolf had 
come near enough to frighten the horses. 

The tired men had to follow the horses on foot. When 
these were caught and brought back, Roosevelt and his 
companion again lay down. Before morning a thin rain 
was falling, and they were glad to get up at dawn and start 
out again. 

It's dogged as does it, was a favorite maxim of Roose- 
velt all his life. He had come out after buffaloes; he 



248 BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 

did not intend to return to the ranch until he had shot one. 
All that day they rode through the rain. Once Roosevelt 
was thrown from his pony, but he kept on. On the fourth 
day he killed his buffalo. 

His liking for the West grew, and before he returned to 
the East, he had bought a ranch of his own. Here he lived 
much of the time for the next few years. The hard, open- 
air life, where he did the regular work of a cowboy, spend- 
ing long hours in the saddle, cured his asthma, and he lost 
every trace of the delicate health he had had up to this 
time. 

IN POLITICS 

Roosevelt's interest in politics was shown soon after he 
finished college, because he believed that every one should 
take an interest in government. He soon made friends 
with men of all parties who were in sympathy with the 
cause of good government. He advocated a better system 
of street-cleaning. His plan was voted down. He grinned 
and went at some other reform. His fellow-Republicans 
liked the grin and admired the man. Soon he was elected 
to the State Legislature and served three terms there. 
Then he became Police Commissioner of New York City 
and later. Assistant Secretary of the Navy. 

COLONEL OF THE ROUGH RIDERS 

In 1898 the misrule of Spain in Cuba caused a United 
States warship — the Maine — to be sent to Havana. Its 
purpose in the harbor was to protect the American resi- 
dents of the island. When this ship was blown up, the 
United States declared war upon Spain. President Mc- 
Kinley called for volunteers, and Roosevelt offered to raise 
a regiment of cavalry. He intended these soldiers should 
be western cowboys, who were used to the saddle and hard- 



THEODORE ROOSEVELT 249 

ened by endurance. When Roosevelt's plan became known, 
thousands offered themselves. Many of them came from 
the West, and on this account the regiment was known 
as the Rough Riders. But there were also Eastern college 
boys and every sort of men who admired Roosevelt and 
liked adventure. The regiment did good service in the 
brief Cuban campaign, and its colonel came back a popular 
hero. 

The same year he was elected Governor of New York. 
In this office he gained the reputation of holding out for 
what he believed was right, even against his own party 
leaders. He wanted to be governor for a second term, but 
instead, he was nominated and elected Vice-President of 
the United States in 1900. 

A little more than a year later President McKinley was 
assassinated, and Theodore Roosevelt became President of 
the United States. 

THE PRESIDENT 

He brought to the office energy and enthusiasm, coupled 
with a desire for fair play and a determination to fight in- 
justice. He wanted every man in the country to have his 
rights, but only his, not any other man's. At home he 
began the great work of reclamation which has changed 
thousands of acres in the West from arid deserts into fer- 
tile farm lands. He settled a great coal strike, and he ex- 
posed political frauds. 

At one time he had dealings with the German Govern- 
ment; at another time, with the Turkish. Again, there 
was a boundary dispute with England. All these matters 
were settled to the satisfaction of the United States, and 
our country stood higher than ever before among the pow- 
ers of the world. 



250 



BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 
THE PANAMA CANAL 



Then came a great problem. For many years there had 
been a plan to dig a canal through the isthmus which con- 
nects North and South America. Such a waterway would 
save the weeks it then took a ship to go from New York 




MIRAFLORES LOCKS, PANAMA CANAL 

to San Francisco around Cape Horn. France had already 
spent millions in a vain attempt to build such a canal, and 
England had planned one also. 

In Roosevelt's administration the United States de- 
cided on a new route, through Panama, and Congress au- 
thorized the construction of a canal. It was begun in 1904 
and finished ten years later. The completed canal, with its 
different locks to regulate the flow of water from the 



THEODORE ROOSEVELT 251 

higher lands to the lower, is one of the greatest engineer- 
ing feats ever accomplished. 

BWANA MAKUBA 

Three weeks after completing his second term as Presi- 
dent, Roosevelt set out for Africa. He had long wanted 
to hunt big game in a wilderness, and now he was not 
merely going on a vacation; he was making a scientific 
trip as well. With him went scientists, and taxidermists 
to cure the specimens, so they could be sent back to the 
National Museum at Washington. For a year Bwana 
Makuba, or the Great Chief, as the natives called him, 
traveled through African jungles. To enumerate the ani- 
mals he shot would be Hke naming over the menagerie of a 
circus. He saw elephants and giraffes and hippopota- 
muses, not by ones or twos, but in herds. Roosevelt and 
his party shot Uons and elephants and all the smaller 
beasts ; they had narrow escapes in their encounters with 
some of these animals. Among the strange foods they 
ate were scrambled crocodile's eggs and soup made from 
an elephant's trunk. 

A CITIZEN OF THE WORLD 

When Roosevelt started home, he planned to journey 
through Europe as a private citizen, but he was received 
in Egypt with such cheers and celebrations that he saw he 
would not be able to do so. Throughout Europe he was 
welcomed with such enthusiasm as had never before been 
given to any private citizen. He was cheered by the 
people and entertained by the rulers. His progress was a 
triumph through Italy, Austria-Hungary, France, Ger- 
many, and England. 



252 BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 

He was in London at the time of the funeral of King 
Edward. Most of the crowned heads of Europe were there 
to show their respect for the dead king. Despite the cus- 
tom which requires a private citizen to seek the ruler, 
most of these kings and emperors sought out Roosevelt 
and called on him at the residence of the American 
Ambassador, where he stayed. 

When Roosevelt sailed for home a Frenchman said of 
him : "It was a great reputation that had preceded him, 
that he was forced to live up to. He succeeded. He goes 
a greater man in the eyes of Europe than he was when 
he came." 

HIS LATER YEARS 

When he returned to America he again threw himself 
wholeheartedly into politics, where he had a great influ- 
ence during the remainder of his life. 

In 1913-14 he made a trip to South America. Here he 
was again the wilderness hunter, shooting big game in the 
tropical jungles. He was also the discoverer and explorer, 
for he found and mapped a river hitherto unknown. In his 
honor the government of Brazil named it Rio Teodoro, 
which means the Theodore River. 

Roosevelt had lived the most active of lives; he was 
known, indeed, for his firm belief in strenuous life. He 
overcame his early frailty so that he resisted jungle fever 
and the malaria of the tropics. In the end he was spared 
continued illness or suffering; he died suddenly January 
6, 1919. 

HIS HOME LIFE 

As a child Roosevelt had spent his summers on Long 
Island, and here he built his home. He led a happy life 
with his wife and six children. There were also two fam- 



THEODORE ROOSEVELT 253 

ilies of cousins who lived near, making sixteen children in 
all. Roosevelt was the most delightful companion of 
these young folks, taking them boating, hunting, and 
camping. When the children were small, a favorite game 
was "stage-coach," played on the swimming float. Father 
always had to tell the story and when he said "stage- 
coach," every child dived off into the water. Thereupon 
the story-teller stood up and counted heads, to make 
sure all were safe, while the boys hid under the float and 
bobbed out unexpectedly. 

When he first lived in Washington, he used to take 
not only his own children but also several of their 
friends and playmates out for long Sunday afternoon 
walks, A favorite place to go was Rock Creek Park, where 
the children could scramble up the rocky hillsides and 
clamber over fallen trees. On one such walk, they were 
crossing the creek on a fallen tree. In trying to prevent 
one especially heedless child from falling into the water, 
Roosevelt himself fell in. As he scrambled out of the 
water he heard one of the playmates say, "Oh ! The father 
of all the children fell into the water." 



THE WRITER 

Had Theodore Roosevelt not distinguished himself in 
other ways, he might have been known as a writer, for he 
has a whole shelf of books to his credit. He began writing 
on historical subjects when he was in college. His ac- 
counts of life on a western ranch were written while he 
was in Dakota, and published in a magazine with illustra- 
tions of cowboys and bucking bronchos. His accounts of 
hunting in Africa and exploring in South America were 
eagerly read as fast as they appeared. His Autobiography 



254 BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 

was one of his last works. It contains many interesting 
memories as well as accounts of his political career. 

THE MANY-SIDED ROOSEVELT 

Roosevelt has been called the typical American. In all 
that he did — as ranchman or hunter, soldier or presi- 
dent — there was a directness of aim and a steadiness of 
purpose that we like to think peculiarly American. When- 
ever he tried to do anything, he tried hard, and he usually 
succeeded. 

Among all the things he accomplished as a man and as 
a president, the greatest was probably the way he made 
the United States respected among the nations of the 
earth. Our country had been like a child growing up; 
suddenly it was grown and ready to take its place among 
the great countries. Roosevelt's manner of dealing with 
the European nations left them respecting and liking us, 
while he was everywhere called the greatest living 
American. 

Topics for Review and Search- 

1. What is Natural History? 

2. Are there any buffaloes now roaming over the western 
plains? 

3. Find out all you can about the Spanish-American War. How 
long did it last? 

4. How was the Panama Canal a help to our country in the 
World War? Can you think of any way it serves us in time of 
peace? 

5. Find out what the Roosevelt dam is, and why it is so named. 

Suggested Supplementary Reading 

Boy's Life of Theodore Roosevelt, Herman Hagedorn. 

Letters to His Children, Theodore Roosevelt. 

American Boys' Life of Theodore Roosevelt,Edward Stratemeyer. 



THEME TOPICS 

1. What Was Believed About the World Before Columbus 

Discovered America. 

2. Trade with the East in the Fifteenth Century. 

3. The Story of Columbus's First Voyage. 

4. The Quakers. 

5. The Founding of Pennsylvania and Philadelphia. 

6. Penn and the Indians. 

7. Franklin's Boyhood. 

8. What Franklin Did for His Country. 

9. George III and the American Colonies. 

10. Patrick Henry's Part in the Revolution. 

11. A Story About Washington When He Was a Boy. 

12. Washington's Trip to the French Fort. 

13. Washington and the American Army. 

14. Washington After the Revolution. 

15. How Morris Helped Win the War. 

16. The Boyhood and Youth of John Paul. 

17. John Paul Jones, Sea Fighter. 

18. How Hamilton Helped the Colonies. 

19. Clark and Kentucky. 

20. How Clark Won the Northwest Territory. 

21. Jefferson's Part in the Revolution. 

22. The Purchase of Louisiana. 

23. The Boyhood of Jackson. 

24. Jackson in the War of 1812. 

25. Robert Fulton As a Boy. 

26. The Story of Fulton's Steamboat. 

27. The Story of the Cotton Gin. 

28. The Story of Cotton. 

29. How Whitney Helped America. 

30. McCormick's Boyhood and Youth. 

31. How the Reaper Has Helped the World. 

255 



256 BUILDERS OF OUR NATION 

32. What Hill Did. 

33. The Boy Edison. 

34. Edison "the Wizard." 

35. The Inventions of Edison. 

36. Longfellow's Education and Travels. 

37. Longfellow's Poetry. 

38. Webster's Boyhood. 

39. What Webster Did for the United States. 

40. Story of Lee's Life Before the Civil War. 

41. Lee, the General. 

42. Grant's Early Life. 

43. How Grant Won the War. 

44. A Comparison of Lee and Grant. 

45. The Boyhood of Lincoln. 

46. How Lincoln Became a Lawyer. 

47. Lincoln and the Civil War. 

48. Why Lincoln Was So Great. 

49. Mary Lyon, a Remarkable Girl. 

50. The Founding of Mount Holyoke College. 

51. What Mary Lyon Did for American Girls. 

52. A Great Nurse. 

53. The Story of the American Red Cross. 

54. What the Red Cross Does Now. 

55. Life of Children of Pioneers (see Stories of Clark, 

Lincoln, and others). 

56. Frances Willard's Service to America. 

57. The Story of Hull House. 

58. How Jane Addams Has Helped the Whole Country. 

59. The Boyhood of Roosevelt. 

60. Different Things Roosevelt Did. 

61. The Man in This Book Who Interested Me Most. 

62. The Woman in This Book That I Liked Best. 

63. War in 1776, 1861, and 1917. 



INDEX AND GLOSSARY 



Abbott, John S. C, 174 
Acadians (a-ka'di-anz), 176 
Addams, Jane, 236-242 
Africa, 19, 251, 253 
Alabama, 124, 209 
Albany (ol'ba-ni), 134, 135 
Alexandria (al'eg-zan'dri-a), 188 
Alfred, The, 84, 85 
Allegheny River, The (al'e-ga'ni), 60 
Ambassador (am-bas'a-der), man re^)- 
resenting his own country in a for- 
eign one, 252 
Amboy, New Jersey, 37 
Amendment (a-mend'ment), addition 

stating a new law, 210 
America, 3, 4, 20, 22, 29-34, 43-45, 
48, 50, 54, 59, 62, 63, 67, 69, 74, 
84, 99, 101, 114, 128, 144, 158, 169, 
ISO, 214, 222, 226-228, 237, 239 
Andersonville, Georgia, 225 
Annapolis (a-nap'6-lis)j 89 
Appalachian Mountains (ap'a-lach'i- 

an), 98 
Appomattox Court House (ap'o-maf 

iiks), 192 
Arabia, 6, 7 

Arkansas (iir'kiin-so), 209 
Armenia (iir-me'ni-a), 228 
Arthur, Chester A., 227 
Asia, 3, 6-8, 15, 20 
Assemblies (a-sem'bliz), meetings 
where the laws were made and the 
country's welfare discussed, 47 
Atlanta, 200, 201 
Atlantic, The, 33, 47, 59, 61, 98, 99, 

114, 117, 135, 157 
Austin, Moses, 189 
Austin, Texas, 189 

Austria-Hungary (6s'tri-a-hung'ga- 
ri), 251 

Bahamas, The (ba-ha'm&z), 15 
Bank, First National, 78, 79 
Bardstown, Kentucky, 223 
Barton, Clara (bar'tun), 222-229 
Battle Hymn of the Re-puMic, 169 
Berkshire Hills (bflrk'sher), 216 
Black Sea, The, 8 

Boti Homme Richard, The (bo-nom' 
re'shar), 87-89 



Boston, 35, 36, 39, 53, 54, 173, 184, 
233; Tea Party, 63, 78; Herald, 
The, 163 

Bowdoin College (bo'd'n), 172 

Bradford, Mr., 38 

Brazil, 252 

Browning, Robert, 240 

Bunker Hill, Battle of, 63; monu- 
ment, 183 ; oration, 184, 186 

Burgesses, House of (biir'jes-es), 112 

Burlington, New Jersey, 37 

Burnside, General, 191 

Burns, Robert, 152, 169 

Bwana Makuba (bwiln'a mii-ku'baj, 
251 

Byfield, Massachusetts, 217 

Cahokia, Fort (ka-ho'ki-a), 105, 106 

California, 157, 158, 198 

Cambridge, 64, 173, 174 ; University, 
175 

Canada, 115, 152, 157 ; Canadian 
Rockies, 157, 160 

Canary Islands, The, 12 

Cape Horn, 250 

Carolina, The, 123 

Cedarville, Illinois, 236 

Central America, 20 

Charles I, 24, 51 

Charles II, 26-28 

Charles River, The, 173 

Charlestown, 126 ; harbor, 209 

Chicago, 149, 153, 202, 230-232, 238 

Chimney Butte (chim'ni but), 246 

China, 7, 80 

Christianity, 11, 16, 18 

Churchville, New York, 230 

Cincinnati (sin'si-nat'i), 149 

Civil War, The, 155, 160, 190, 194, 
199, 202, 209-211, 223, 226 

Clark, George Rogers, 102-108 

Clermont, The, 134, 135 

Columbia University, 92 

Columbus, Christopher, 6-21, 47, 101 

Confederacy, The, 191, 200, 209 

Congress, body of Senators and Rep- 
resentatives who are elected by the 
people to make laws, 65, 69, 76-79, 
81, 184, 250 ; Continental, 52 

Connecticut, 141 



257 



258 



INDEX AND GLOSSARY 



Constantinople (kon-stan'ti-no'p'l), 8 
Cornwallis, Lord (kOrn-wol'is), 67, 

68, 70 
Craigie House (kra'ge), 173, 177 
Cromwell, Oliver (krom'wgl), 24, 51 
Cuba, 15, 248 

Cumberland River, The, 199 
Custis, Martlia (kus'tis), 61 
Custis, Mary. 190 

Dakota. 246, 253 

Dartmouth College, 183 

Declaration of Independence, The, 
32, 44, 45, 65, 112. 113, 116, 237 

Delaware, 39 ; River, The, 27-29, 65 ; 
"Crossing the Delaware," 66, 72 

Denmark, 172 

Detroit, 160; Fort, 106 

Diplomat (dip'lo-mat), man who con- 
ducts affairs for his government 
in a foreign country. 43 

Dixie. 1G9 

Donelson, Fort. 199, 200 

Dorchester Heights. 64 

Douglas, Stephen A.. 208 

Drake, The, 86 

East Indies, 7 

Edison, Thomas Alva, 160-168 

Edward, King, 252 

Egypt, 9, 246, 251 

Emancipation Proclamation, The 

(e-m4n'si-pa'shiin prok'la-ma'shiinj , 

210 
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 213 
Emerson, Reverend Joseph, 217 
England, 23, 24, 30-34, 43, 44, 48. 49, 

52. 55, 56. 59-63, 67, 74, 75, 92, 

101, 105, 113, 121, 135, 144, 180, 

186, 214, 249-251 
Europe, 3. 4, 7-9. 14, 16, 19, 22, 25, 

42, 68, 98, 149, 172. 175. 179, 222. 

225. 226. 237. 251, 252 
Evanston, 231 ; College for Ladies, 

232 
Exeter (ek'se-ter), 152 

Fairfax, Lord, 58, 59 

Ferdinand, King (far'di-nand), 10- 

12. 19 
Florida. 59, 114, 124, 125, 127, 20.9 
Foote, Commodore (foot, kom'o-dor'J, 

199 
Fourth of July. The. 113 
Fox, George, 22 
France. 42. 44, 45, 59. 68, 69, 78. 85. 

89, 113, 115, 133, 169, 250, 251 ; 

French Academy of Science, The, 

149 ; French and Indian War, 61, 

62 



Franklin, Benjamin, 35-45, 75, 87 
Franklin, James, 36 
Freneau, Philip (fre-no'), 169 
Friends, see Quakers 
Fulton, Pennsylvania, 130 
Fulton, Robert. 130-136 

Galena. Illinois, (ga-le'na), 154 

Garfield, James A., 22^ 

Genoa (Jen'6-a), 6-9 

George HI. 49. 51-54, 63, 64, 105, 17.3 

Georgetown, 156 

Georgia, 47, 59, 121, 124, 138, 141, 

200, 209 
Germany, 172, 214. 249, 251 
Gettysburg, Battle of (get'iz-bilrg), 

192 
Glacier National Park, 158 
Grant, Ulysses S., 161, 192, 196-199, 

211 
Greene, General Nathaniel (na-than'i- 

el). 92, 139 
Gulf of Mexico, 114 

Hamilton, Alexander, 91-97 

Hamilton, Colonel Henry, 106-108 

Hamilton, Fort, 189 

Harlem School. 231 

Harvard College. 172, 174, 216. 246 

Havana (ha-van'a), 248 

Hawthorne, Nathaniel (na-than'i-elj, 
174 

Hayes, Rutherford B. {haz, rooth'er- 
ferd), 226 

Ilayne, Senator (ban). 184, 186 

Hayti (hfi'ti), 15. 18 

Hellespont (hel'es-pont), strait be- 
tween Europe and Asiatic Turkey, 
8. 9 

Henry, Fort, 199 

Henry, Patrick, 46-55, 103 

Hill, James Jerome (jer-om'), 152- 
159 

Hodgensville, Kentucky (hoj'fnz-vilj, 
204 

Holmes. Captain (homz). 39 

Holmes, Oliver Wendell. 174 

Hooker, General, 191 

Hudson River, The. 96, 134, 135, 190 

Hull House, 238-242 

Illinois, 101, 107, 206, 208, 212. 231. 

236 
Inaugurated (in-o'gu-rat-ed), made 

president, 114 
India, 6-10, 14-20 
Indiana, 101, 204 
Indian Ocean, The, 8 
Indians. 2. 15. 29-31. 41, 42. 58-61, 

99. 102-105, 120, 121, 124-126, 130, 

156, 176 



INDEX AND GLOSSARY 



259 



Internal waterways, lakes, rivers, 
and canals so connected that they 
can be used for commerce, 189 

International Temperance Union, 
The, 233 

Ipswich (ips'wich), 218 

Ireland, 25, 118 

Isabella, Queen, 10, 12^ 19 

Italy. 6. 169, 251 

Jackson, Andrew. 117-127, 189 
Janesville, Wisconsin, 230, 231 
Japan, 7, 15 

Jefferson Barracks (bar'aks), 198 
Jefferson. Peter, 109 
Jefferson, Thomas, 109-llG 
Jones, John Paul, 83-90 
Junto. The (jun'to), 40 

Kaskaskia, Fort (kas-kas'ki-a), 104- 

106 
Keane, Major-General, (ken), 124 
Keimer, Mr. (ki'mer), 38, 40 
Keith, Gov. William, 38, 39 
Kentucky, 102-104, 108, 199, 204 
Key, Francis Scott, 169 
King's College, 91 
Kittson, Mr., 157 

Lafayette (la'fa-yet). 68-70 

Lancaster (lang'kas-ter), 131, 132 

La Rabida (Hi ra'bi-da), 10, 11 

Lee, Custis, 190 

Lee, Robert Edward, 180, 188-195, 
200, 202, 212 

Legislative (16j'-is-la-tiv), law-mak- 
ing, 49 

Lexington, Battle of, 64, 75 

Lexington, Virginia, 147, 194 

Lincoln, Abraham, 73, 180, 200, 204- 
215 

Lincoln, Nancy Hanks, 205 

Lincoln, Thomas, 204 

Little Britain, 130 

Liverpool, 74 

Livingstone, Robert R.. 133, 245 

London, 33, 39, 251 

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, 171- 
177 

Long Island, 252 ; Battle of, 92 

Louisiana Purchase, 114-116, 121, 
209 

Louis the Fifteenth, 43 

Lowell, James Russell, 174 

Lyon, Mary, 216-220 

Maine, 47. 59, 171 
Maine, The, 248 
Marshfield, 184 
Maryland, 27 



Massachusetts, 33, 63, 216, 218, 222 

Mai/flowei-, The, 4 

McClellan, George B. (ma-klel'anj, 

191 
McCormick, Cyrus Hall (ma-kOr'mik, 

si'riis), 145-151 
McKinley, William, 248, 249 
Mediterranean Sea, The (med'i-ter-a'- 

ne-an), 8 
"Merry Monarch. The." 26, 27 
Mexican War, The, 189, 190, 198 
Mexico, 189 
Michigan, 101, 160 
Milan, Ohio (mi'lan), 160 
Militia force (mi-lish'a), body of citi- 
zens trained as soldiers, 40 
Miller, Mr., 140 
Millward, Massachusetts, 222 
Milwaukee-Downer College, 231 
Minister, one who represents his ow.i 

country abroad, 113 
Ministers, advisers, 49 
Minnesota, 154, 155 
"Minute-men," 63 
Mississippi, 209 ; River, The, 59, 61, 

108, 114-116, 149, 153, 154, 189. 

200, 206 
Monroe, James, 115 
Monticello (mon'te-sel'o), 109, 110 

114-116 
Moors, 10, 11 
Morris, Robert, 74-82 
Mount Holyoke Seminary (hol'yOk). 

218-221 
Mount Vernon, 56, 59, 61, 72 

Napoleon, 152 

Nautilu::, The (no'ti-lus), 132 

Nevis (ne'vis), 91 

New England, 4, 52, 141, 153, 170 

New Hampshire, 181, 183, 217 

New Jersey, 37, 65-67, 91, 92 

New Orleans (or'le-anz), 115, 122, 

123, 124, 149, 206 
New York, 33, 34, 36, 52, 65, 67, 80, 

94, 134, 135, 153, 158, 164, 190. 

202, 222, 230, 250 ; City, 248 ; har 

bor, 189 
Nina, The (ne'na), 12, 14, 16 
North America, 2, 20, 250 
North Carolina, 84, 209 
North Dakota, 156 
Northern Pacific Railroad, The, 157 
Northwestern College, 231 
Northwest Territory, The, 101. 102. 

104, 105, 108, 154, 155 
Norway, 172 

Oath of oflBce (6th), solemn promise 
to fulfill all duties of the presi- 
dent, 114 



260 



INDEX AND GLOSSARY 



Oberlin, Ohio (6'ber-lin), 240 

Ohio, 101, 160, 196, 230 ; River, The, 
103, J 04, 149, 196 

Ontario, Canada (6n-ta'ri-o), 152 

Oregon, 157 

Orient, The (6'ri-ent), eastern coun- 
tries, as India, Japan, etc., 153 

Orinoco River, The (o'ri-no'ljo), 18 

Oxford, Massachusetts, 222 

Oxford, University of, 24, 25, 175 

Pacific Ocean, The, 99, 116, 153, 154, 
157, 202 

Panama, 250 ; Canal. The, 250 

Paris, 25 

Parliament (par'li-ment), law-making 
body in England corresponding to 
.our Congress, 34, 48 

Patent (pat'ent), grant by the gov- 
ernment which keeps anyone else 
from copying an invention, 140 

Paul, John, see Jones, John Paul 

Pavia, University of (pil-ve'ii), 8 

Pearson, Captain, 87, 88 

Penn, Admiral, 24-26 

Pennsylvania, 27, 28, 30, 32, 38, 41, 
52, 68, 80, 130, 191 

Penn, William, 4, 22, 24-32 

Pensacola Harbor (pen'sa-ko'la), 122 

Pershing, General, 70 

Persia, 7 

Philadelphia, 28-30, 36-39, 52, 65, 69, 
74, 75, 78-80, 94, 112, 113, 119, 132 

Phillips Academy, 182 

Pilgrims, The, 183 

Pmta, The, (pen'ta), 12, 14, 16 

"Pioneer Guards, The," 155 

Pitt, Fort, 103 

Pittsburgh, 60, 103 

Pitt, William, 50 

Point Plt-asant, Ohio, 196 

Political science (p6-lit'i-kal si'ens}, 
study of the organization and gov- 
ernment of states, 244 

Poor Richard's Almanac, 43, 87 

Pope, General, 191 

Port Huron, Michigan, 160 

Portland, Maine, 171 ; Academy, 172 

Portugal (por'tii-gal), 9, 10, 12"; 
Henry, Prince of, 9 ; John, King 
of, 10, 12 

Postofflce Department, The, 41 

Potomac River, The (p6-t6'mak), 56, 
57, 62, 96, 188 

Princeton, 68 ; Battle of, 92 

Prohibition (pro'hi-bish'un), forbid- 
ding the manufacture and sale of 
alcoholic drinks, 233 

Providence, The, 85 

Puritans, The, 176 



Quakers, The, 23-31 ; Quaker School. 
131 

Raleigh, Sir Walter (ro'li), 4 

Ranoer, The, 85, 86 

Read, Deborah (deb'6-ra), 38, 40 

Red Cross Society, The, 225-229 

Red River, The. 157 

Red Sea, The, 8 

Revolutionary War, The, 45, 53. 55, 
62-70, 73, 75, 78, 81, 89, 92, 93, 
103, 108, 114, 119, 132, 139. 169, 
173, 176, 180, 181, 188, 214 

Richmond, 149, 191, 200, 201 

Riverside Park, 202 

Rivianna, River, The (riv'i-an'aj, 
109 

Rockbridge County, 145 

Rock Creek Park, 253 

Rockford College, 237 

Rock River, The, 230 

Rockwood Academy, 152 

Rocky Mountains, The, 115 

Roosevelt, Theodore, 245-254 

Rough Riders, The, 249 

Russia, 128, 228 

Sanderson Academy, The, 216, 217 

San Francisco, 158. 250 

San Salvador (siin sal'va-dor'), 15 

Santa Maria, The (siin'ta ma-re'aj, 
12, 14. 16 

Savannah, Georgia (sa-van'a), 138, 
139 

Schuylkill River, The (skool'kTl), 28, 
80 

Scientific American, 164 

Scotland, 46, 83, 169 

Scott, General, 189 

Secession (se-sesh'un). withdrawing 
from the Union, 191 

Sectionalism (sek'shiln-al-iz'm), de- 
votion of a people to one smajl 
part of the country instead of to, 
the great whole. 187 

Seine River, The (san), 133 

Serapis, The (sar'a-pis), 87-89 

Shakespeare, 152, 182, 231, 240 

Sherman, General, 200, 201 

Shiloh, Battle of (shi'lo), 160 

"Ship of State, The," 95 

Smith College, 221 

Smith, Mr., 157 

South America, 18, 250, 253 

South Carolina, 209 

Spain, 10-12. 16-20, 59, 115, 124, 125, 
127, 248 

Springfield, Illinois, 206 

Stamp Act, The, 50, 52 

Stanton, Edwin M., 212 

Starr, Ellen Gates, 237, 238 



%1 Wi 



INDEX AND GLOSSARY 



261 



stars and Stripes, The. 85, 201 

Star-Spaiigled Banner, The, 169 

St. Louis, 188, 198 

St. Paul, 154, 150 ; St. Paul and Pa- 
cific Railroad, 157 

St. Petersburg, 228 

Streets, of Boston, 35 ; of Philadel- 
phia, 28, 29, 38 

Stuart, The House of, family of 
Stuarts who handed down the 
English throne from father to son, 
24 

Suez, Isthmus of (sdo-ez'), 8 

Sumter, Fort, 209 

Sweden, 172 

Switzerland, 172 

Syracuse, New York (sir'a-kus'), 153 

Tennessee, 108, 119-121, 125, 199, 
209 ; River, Valley of the, 117 

Tcodoro, Rio (ta'6-dor'o re'6), 252 

Territory (ter'i-to-ri), part of the 
country not yet taken into the 
Union as a state, 234 

Texas, 115, 189, 198, 209 

Tongue River, The, 156 

Trenton, New Jersey, 66-68, 72 ; Bat- 
tle of, 92 

Turkey, 9. 249 

Union County, North Carolina, 118 
Union PaciOc Railroad, The, 158 
United States, The, 2, 32, 45, 54, 50, 
59, 68, 70, 71, 79, 98, 99, 114-116, 
121, 122, 124, 125, 127, 134-136, 
184, 185, 189, 208, 209, 212, 214- 
216, 227-229, 233, 234, 248-250, 
254 ; army, 188, 198 ; capitol of, 
SO, 90 : constitution of, 45, 71, 79, 
94, 179, 182, 210 ; exports of, 150' ; 
railroad across, 157, 158 ; senate, 
84. 86 

Valley Forge, 68 

Vasco de Gama (viis'ko dii ga'ma), 19 
Vassar College, 221 
Venice, 7 ; Venetians, 8-9 
Vespucius, Americus (ves-pu'shus, 
a-mer'I-kus), 20 



Vicksburg, 192, 200 

Vincennes, Fort (vin-s?nz'), 105, 107 

Virginia, 33, 46-56, 58-60, 62, 70, 84, 

96, 103, 105, 109, 112, 113, 115, 

116, 145, 149, 188, 190, 191. 194, 

209 

Washington and Lee University, 194 
Washington, D. C, 2.22, 228, 251, 

253 
Washington, George, 56-73, 80, 81, 

84, 92, 95, 112, 114, 173, 180, 18^, 

191, 194, 212-214 
Washington, Lawrence, 56 
Washington, Lawrence, 59 
Washington, Martha, 61, 190 
Washington, State of, 157, 158 
Watt, James (wot), 133 
Webster, Daniel, 126, 181-187 
Webster, Ebenezer, 181 
Webster, Ezekiel, 183 
Weekhj Herald, The, 161 
Wellesley College, 221 
West, Benjamin, 132 
Western Union Telegraph Company, 

The, 163 
West Indies, The, 15, 74, 84, 91 
Westminster Abbey, 177 
West Point Military Academy, 188, 

197 
Whitehaven, Scotland, 83 
White, Mr., 119 

Whitney, Eli (hwit'ni, e'll), 137-144 
Whittier, John G., 231 
Wisconsin, 101, 230 
Willard, Frances E., 230-235 
William and Mary College, 110 
Williamsburg, Virginia. 103 
"Willing and Morris," 74 
Winnipeg (win'I-peg), 156 
World War, The, 150. 228, 229 
Wolcott, Oliver (wool'kut), 142 
Woman's Christian Temperance 

Union, The, 232-235 

Yale College, 138, 216, 231 
York, Duke of, 26 
York River, The, 70 
Yorktown, 70 ; Battle of, 93 
Younger, Mr., 83 



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